Thursday, January 20, 2011

Where isn't God.....



"Praise the LORD, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s." Psalm 103:2-5

I have always wondered why people who don't really give much thought to God blame Him when catastrophes happen. They ask, "Where was God?" Most of the time they say it when especially evil people do terrible things to innocent people. Every terrible event in history it seems to come up again. I heard it concerning the Holocaust, events in Africa, every war that has ever been fought. And here at home it came up again after 9/11.

When it's a natural disaster, the question comes up again. They say: "Why did God allow this? I have also  heard some Christians try to pin it on God as His judgment on whoever got struck down.
Why didn't God do something? The question should rather be, "Why didn't we do something, or for that matter, "Why didn't I do something?"  We are creatures of free-will, and that was given to us as a supreme gift from God. This is a sacred gift, and He will not take it away. We can use it to do good, or use it to cause tremendous grief and suffering for others. Yes, He could certainly stop all evil for good, and someday He will. But the time is not now. It has been said.....
“Evil flourishes when good men do nothing.”~British statesman Edmund Burke
The truth is, evil flourishes anyway. It just flourishes more when good people do nothing. It is the result of sin, and that is a word we don't use much anymore.

God was watching, has been watching, and His heart has broken along with all those who have suffered loss. He has been there in every foxhole and trench, every death camp and burned village, in the towers that fell. I have heard the stories. His Spirit was there residing in people who came alongside to help, hiding people at the risk of their own life, putting people on trains to freedom, getting people to safety, jumping in front of bullets raining death.

Believe me, I understand about asking why and where when you are in deep sorrow. Some people have gone through some things so horrific, so unimaginably terrible that I can't imagine how they got through it, are getting through it. But I do know this, it is possible to get through it victoriously with Him but not without Him.

When Jesus was on the cross they scoffed, "Where is Your God?" What they couldn't understand was that by His very act He was saying....."I am right here."

“He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

If you are going through something right now that you think is unfair, unwarranted and you feel neglected and abandoned by God, please draw comfort from the fact that He is surely with you. He still loves you and He is working for your ultimate good.

Maybe you are asking where He is. He understands that. The asking is in itself an acknowledgement of Him. That is something He can work with.

photo credit: http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/ Anna Cervova

4 comments:

  1. Wow, Lori, this one left me breathless. What a beautiful explanation of the very simple truth - even in the worst moments of man's history, God was present. God still cared. God grieved. His embrace always was and always will be there for us, to comfort, heal, and restore our brokenness!

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  2. Oh I love this post! I wrote out a long comment, and my computer killed it, but I'm determined! This is so true - that even in the worst moments of human history, God was and always will be there. It's so easy for people who don't know him to think he doesn't care. But the exact opposite is true - he cares more than we could ever know, and his arms are always open to comfort, heal, and restore us!

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  3. Thank you so much Paula....I someone say this on a television show just last night and I had to address it! Can you imagine how sad God feels to look down and see the things that are going on now? But it makes His heart sing when He sees us doing His work....encouraging others, surrounding those who need help...A blessed evening to you. Lori

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  4. Great post Lori. Yes, the same free will that everyone demands is what gets us into trouble every time. And God watches, suffers and joins us through it all. Wonderful thoughts.
    Andie

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