Where is God?

The initiator of an online prayer group of which I am a part reflected that there are many who would ask, "Where is God?" when looking at some of the events that have captured the headlines in recent day s and months.  She challenged us to answer that question.  This is my answer for today.

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.