Where was God?
It is so easy to ask that question when something horrible
or evil happens. It’s especially hard
when we believe in an omnipotent God.
The conundrum created by what God could have done and did do gives us
pause, and if faith in His ultimate goodness doesn’t undergird our walk, we can
be in despair or worse, turn away from God.
We do that when we apply earthly standards to Almighty God. A walk through the Holy Scriptures reveals
that these are not new concerns. I do
not know what theology or epistemology can truly answer the questions to our
satisfaction . Thus I have to look at my
own experience and a passage that tells me to let God be God. Isaiah 55:8-9 defines my place: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my
ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts.”
God is God and I am not, but I know where He is. He is in my heart and in the hearts of all
who truly believe in His Son, God
Incarnate. In a way only God can, He
walks beside us, behind us and goes before us, while holding us under His wing
or in the palm of His hand. I will fear
no evil doesn’t mean there won’t be evil, but that I need not fear because He
is with me, and when I am hurting He will comfort me.
God has not abandoned His creation, even when we have
abandoned Him as a society, a culture, and as individuals. He still loves us, but He also lets us bear
the consequences of the fallen world. We
have often chosen the temporary pleasures of evil over the opportunity to delight
in the Lord.
Where was God? He
took my friend’s hand as her heart stopped beating at the end of December. She valiantly fought lymphoma several times
and their Christmas letter said she was cancer free. But, the very treatment that eradicated the
cancer destroyed her heart and lungs.
She leaves behind a husband and three wonderful sons through whom in a
way she still lives. But, as my daughter
put it, today as friends and relatives celebrate her life, those of us who
can’t be there will be listening for a new voice in the angel choir.
Every day He is with me, even on days when I don’t spend
much time thinking about Whose I am. He
is always there, in people like my friend Judy, or my prayer warrior friends,
using them as His hands and feet. He is
in the simple faith of a child and in the childlike faith of those who receive
Him. And, really who knows what we have
escaped because of God’s restraining hand?
I do not and cannot know – because He is God and I am not.
