The 4 Rules of Making God Real

Rule One: Accept God is Running the Show

The first principle of faith in Judaism states that: 'God did, does, and will do everything in the world.' That doesn't just mean that God is behind the big, dramatic things that happen, like world wars, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It means that God is controlling every single aspect of your life.

You woke up on time today? God arranged that for you. You missed your bus to work? God fixed that to happen. Your kid spilled their juice all over the couch? Guess what - God was pulling their strings. The more you can internalize that God is behind every single little thing that's happening in the world, even the part of it called 'your life', the more real God will get.

Rule Two: Believe that God is Doing Everything for Your Best

Okay, so you can get, at least in principle, that God worked his magic in order for you to find your perfect job, or to meet the man of your dreams, or to help you pull off the deal of the century.

But here's where rule one can get pretty challenging for a lot of people - if you accept that God is behind everything that's happening in the world, then you're basically saying he's also behind all the nasty stuff too, like terminal illnesses, psychos and evil dictators.

How can that be right?!?

This is where you need to chuck out all your philosophy textbooks, and go with pure faith, (or what Jews call emuna.)

God Has Good Reasons For Putting Us Through Challenging Times

If God is making you sick, or poor, or miserable in some way, He's always got a very good reason for doing that. Maybe, your present difficult circumstances are helping you to pay off some sort of old spiritual debt, from a previous lifetime? Maybe, it's encouraging you to dig deep, and to tap into reservoirs of emotional strength and spiritual power that you never even dreamed you had?

Maybe, you needed to be challenged in order to learn a particular soul lesson, or make some huge, necessary changes to your life, or get out of a damaging spiritual rut? Who knows?

The point is, God is never just randomly hurting you or punishing you, even when he sends some painful circumstances your way. The more you try to look for God behind your difficult circumstances, the easier it will be to get through your challenges in one piece, and the more real God will get.