Looking for God

A number of times over the years I have heard someone ask, particularly in the context of grief and anguish, "Where was God when..." and then they finish the question with their particular heartache or uncertainty. These are great questions for they challenge us to think about the Creator as one whose presence among us is assumed and whose action is anticipated. What we miss often in these questions, is the degree of personal bias we bring to our inquiries. What we are often really saying is, "why didn't God act as I thought God should act?" We, like Jonah, seem to presume that we know what is best and therefore, how God should act.


God sent Jonah to Nineveh. Most of us know the story of Jonah's fear and of his running away from God. We know of the big fish that swallowed him and then spit him out, and of his relenting to go where God wanted to send him. We forget at times, however, that when God looked with grace upon the Ninevites and spared them, Jonah became angry with God, ultimately because God did not act as Jonah thought God should act.


Today, we still struggle with our understanding of how and why God acts. We, like Jonah, believe at times that we have it all figured out, yet are surprised when God doesn't come through as we would prescribe. "My ways are higher than your ways," God said through the prophet Isaiah, "My thoughts are higher than yours." To hear those words doesn't help us to always understand the action or inaction of God. But perhaps it reminds us that we do not have the last word...that we do not always have the last word...that we are not the center of the universe.

Where was God when...? Trust that God was there and trust that God will continue to be there and at work in the midst of whatever you face. By definition, isn't that what faith requires?

Jim Abernathy