{"id":348,"date":"2010-08-31T08:36:48","date_gmt":"2010-08-31T08:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/2010\/08\/does-it-make-a-difference-to-follow-god.html"},"modified":"2010-08-31T08:36:48","modified_gmt":"2010-08-31T08:36:48","slug":"does-it-make-a-difference-to-follow-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/08\/does-it-make-a-difference-to-follow-god.html","title":{"rendered":"Does it make a difference to follow God?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

There are days when I am a practical atheist. On those days,
\nI tend to be cranky. I want my kids to behave, and I lose patience with them
\neasily. I fail to notice the beauty of my surroundings. I don’t say thank you
\nvery much. Those days feel flat.<\/p>\n

There are other days, I hope, where my life reflects what I
\nbelieve (even if the reflection is a bit dim). When I recognize that God made the
\nmarsh grass and the sea and the sky. When I remember the gift of our children
\nand the responsibility I have to serve them and care for them. When I lose my
\npatience or say something rude and then remember Jesus’ love and grace, and I
\nforgive myself. Those are days of wonder. <\/p>\n

It can be tricky to set up distinctions between believers
\nand atheists. It can come off as holier-than-thou, not to mention false. There
\nare plenty of people who don’t believe in God and yet live more upright lives
\nthan those of us who read the Bible and pray and go to church. And yet, I also
\nknow that the Spirit of God lives within those who have received Jesus’ grace,
\nand the Spirit should be transforming us. Our lives should look different.<\/p>\n

In the Psalms, this distinction comes up again and again. In
\nPsalm 1<\/a>, there are two ways of life. The blessed way, the way of the Lord, and
\nthe wicked way, the way of mockers. But as the Psalms continue, it seems that
\nthe ones who follow God have more trouble. They are accused. They feel
\nabandoned. They suffer. What separates them from the ones who don’t know God is
\nnot their circumstances. It is their relationship to the Lord. <\/p>\n

One of my favorite lines from the Psalms comes in Psalm
\n71:14<\/a>: <\/p>\n

But as for me, I shall always have hope…<\/i><\/p>\n

In the face of enemies who want to kill me, in the face of
\naccusation, in the face of suffering, I shall always have hope. In 1 Peter
\n3:15<\/a>, Peter writes, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks
\nyou to give the reason for the hope that you have.” He assumes that Christians
\nhave hope that is visible to others, so visible and unusual that others will
\nask about it. My life will look different from those around me, not because I
\nhave a bigger house or a healthier body or even a happier disposition, but
\nbecause I have hope in the living God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are days when I am a practical atheist. On those days, I tend to be cranky. I want my kids to behave, and I lose patience with them easily. I fail to notice the beauty of my surroundings. I don’t say thank you very much. Those days feel flat. 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Two major life experiences have shaped her writing and her faith\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcaring for her mother-in-law as she battled cancer and welcoming her daughter Penny into the world after she was diagnosed at birth with Down syndrome. Both experiences expanded and enriched her understanding of what it means to be human and to receive each and every person as a gift.\u00c2\u00a0 A graduate of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, she is the author of Penelope Ayers: A Memoir, and the forthcoming A Good and Perfect Gift (Bethany House). Her essays have appeared in First Things, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Christian Century, ChristianityToday.com, and Bloom, among other online venues.","sameAs":["http:\/\/amyjuliabecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/author\/amyjuliabecker"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}