FAITH IN GOD
There is a God of the universe—its Creator, Owner, Lord, and Master. The most outstanding evidence for God is the universe that is spread out before us. The universe’s very existence announces that there is a great God who created it and who, with His incredible power, is running it.
Because the universe is so obvious, we are compelled to accept its existence. For the same reason, we are compelled to accept the existence of God, for accepting the universe is meaningless as long as one does not accept its Creator and Maker. This universe is so unique that it could not have come into being without a Maker, and its functioning is so unique that it cannot be possible without some Supreme Mind running it. Man is as compelled to accept God as he is to accept himself or the universe.
If you place a pebble on the wheel of a bicycle and then start peddling the wheel quickly, the pebble will fly off and fall far away. This happens even though the speed of the bicycle wheel is barely 25 miles per hour. The Earth on which we are presently living is like a vast wheel. It continuously races around its axis at around 1000 miles an hour. This speed is faster than that of an ordinary passenger aeroplane. We live and move about on this fast-speeding Earth. We build houses and entire cities on it. But our state is unlike the pebbles placed on a fast-moving wheel. We don’t fall off from the Earth’s surface, nor are we hurled into space. How strange is this miracle!
Scientific investigation reveals that the reason for us being stable on Earth is that from below, the force of gravity pulls us down, and from above, the heavy pressure of the atmosphere pushes us down, thus keeping us firmly rooted on the surface of the Earth. This two-way process keeps us stable on the Earth so we do not fly off like pebbles on a wheel into space. However, this answer only reveals that an even greater miracle lies behind the power of gravity and atmospheric pressure, which work to keep us grounded on the Earth’s surface. There must be a Mind that has arranged for the force of gravity and the atmospheric pressure to be precisely balanced, ensuring the stability of all things and beings, including humans, on Earth. That Mind is of God.
A Mind-Boggling Universe
Everything in this world is a miracle. A farmer places a tiny seed in some soil, and after some days, he sees a green and white radish appearing from inside the soil. When he plants another seed, he sees a red carrot forming. Put another seed in the soil, and guavas come into being; some other seeds bring mangoes. One seed produces a Sheesham tree, while a Chinar tree emerges from another. And then, each of these looks different. The beauty of each is unique, and so are their benefits and special qualities. The soil is the same, and the seeds are incredibly tiny. But from these little seeds planted in the same soil, many different things emerge with so many qualities that they cannot be enumerated!
An entire universe of mind-boggling miracles is visibly spread out on all sides. In a world where even if all human beings get together, they cannot create even a single particle out of nothing, every moment, innumerable things are being constantly developed by someone other than humans. These are all such amazing miracles that man’s tongue cannot express their greatness. Even all the words in a dictionary would be insufficient to narrate them. Our words only limit the vast greatness of these miracles; they do not express them at all.
Can these miracles come into being on their own, without a God, as atheists claim?
The Miracle of the Universe
Everything in the universe is made up of atoms. Everything, in its ultimate analysis, is a collection of atoms. But what a fantastic miracle it is that in one place, a certain quantity of atoms collect, and they become a shining star like the sun. In another place, atoms come together and form a flowing river. In the third place, atoms coalesce and assume the form of a fine breeze. In some other places, atoms take the shape of fertile land. In this way, the world has uncountable things arranged through a collection of atoms. However, their status, nature, and special features are separate and different from each other.
A miraculous universe of this sort, along with its uncountable activities, is engaged in the service of man. Whatever man needs for his life has been organized on a vast scale. To make the world usable for ourselves, the effort required from us is minimal. Under the cosmic arrangement, an abundance of valuable sustenance is produced. Our contribution is merely to use our hands and mouths to consume this sustenance. After that, without conscious effort, the natural automatic system digests the food within us, transforming it into flesh, blood, bones, nails, hair, and many other components that become part of our body.
Another example is a fantastic liquid called ‘petroleum,’ produced through various processes in which man plays no role. All that man does is extract, refine, and fill his machines with it, and then this liquid fuel runs the whole system of human civilization!
Likewise, in the universe, all those things have been made available in abundant quantity, which man has to only work on a bit to turn into items that meet his needs and wants, from clothes and houses to machines and vehicles.
Are these phenomena in the world not sufficient evidence that a Creator and Sustainer runs the universe and has arranged for all the many things man needs to live and thrive, with just the right features and proportions?
Perfect Planning of the Universe
Now, view the matter from another perspective. The world contains ‘raw materials’ of various sorts, which man uses to make many different things. Man plays a very tiny part in making them usable for himself. He shapes iron ore into a machine, and, refining oil, he fills the tanks of his cars with it. However, the result of such simple human actions is that the land and the seas are filled with chaos and corruption, which are various forms of pollution. Nature has bestowed us with a beautiful and pure world, but our actions have caused us to be surrounded by smoke, noise, dirt, destruction, conflicts, and various insoluble problems. Continuously, more work than the little action we perform in our fields, factories, and offices keeps happening, day and night, in the vast universe, but no such problems are produced there.
The Earth continuously engages in two types of movement: one on its axis and the other in its orbit around the Sun. These movements have been carried on non-stop for millions of years, yet they produce no sound and generate no pollution.
A tree functions as a grand factory, as it were, but it does not produce any smoke.
Countless creatures die daily in the sea, which does not pollute the waters.
Innumerable stars and planets are racing about in the vast firmament every moment, but no change ever happens in their speed and orbits. They never slow down or go faster. Nor do they step out of their clearly defined routes, which they have followed for millennia. We see that the universe is a zero-defect universe.
The system of the universe has been functioning for billions of years, but its planning is so perfect that there never has been a need to review it.
Are these all not mind-boggling miracles? After all of these, is there still a need for evidence for man to acknowledge that behind the universe is a Divine Power—Almighty God?
The Miracle of Life
Reflect on the phenomenon of life itself. It is such a fantastic event that a few material particles come together in a body, and a new living being is produced: becoming a fish that swims in the water, a bird that flies in the sky, or a human being who builds a civilization. In line with some mysterious causes, a body is formed inside a mother. Bones are brought into being, which assume the form of a significant structure. Then, a layer of flesh is put on this structure, which is covered by a layer of skin. Hair and nails are made to develop. Blood vessels are laid out throughout the body. In this way, through a seemingly self-operating process, an amazing being called ‘man’ is formed who walks, who holds, who sees, who hears, who tastes, who thinks, who acts, who remembers, who acquires information, who writes, who speaks, and so on. For such an amazing existence to emerge from lifeless matter, as it were, is such an amazing event that even the word ‘miracle’ is insufficient to describe how mindboggling it truly is.
If a person were to say that he has heard mud speak and see a stone walk, people would be amazed. They would hardly believe him. But the external form of a human being, who speaks and who moves about, is, after all, just mud-and-stones, as it were. The components of his physical body are quite the same as that of mud and stones. We would think it would be astounding to hear mud and stones speaking and walking somewhere, but the creature called’ man would be even more astonishing. For human life and consciousness to be produced in ‘lifeless’ matter—in mere ‘mud’ and ‘stones’ as it were—is this not evidence that there is a superior Being, Who, with His extraordinary power, has brought about this amazing miracle?
People ask for miraculous proof to accept God and God’s message for humankind. But what other miracle do people require than all the many miracles already in the universe? If such miracles are not enough for man to bow down before God Almighty, how will he become ready to accept God on seeing any other miracle?
The signs needed to believe in God and surrender oneself to Him are always present before every person. If, despite this, a person does not recognize God and His glory and perfection, it is their fault, not that of the universe.
