Terry’s Take… Where Is God?
The eyes of the world are fixed on Ukraine and the Middle East. Our hearts feel for our fellow human beings under brutal attack. Terrible tragedies like this beg the question: Where is God?
Though it is difficult to grasp, God is not absent. God is there. God is weeping. God is on the side of those who suffer and hears their cry. Our God is not fair-weather or disconnected. He does not live in faraway palaces.
God is in the midst of suffering, at the very heart of the traumas and tragedies of the world.
There is no doubt that God accompanies the families that are forced to flee and separate. God mourns over the many lifeless corpses that leave us numb. At the same time, God works to move negotiations forward on the path to peace. God inspires journalists and camera operators who put their lives on the line to capture the reality of what people are going through.
History shows us that it is often in the most crushing darkness that God shines the most radiant light. The modus operandi of God is not simply to observe the suffering of the world as an indifferent bystander. God makes Himself close. He Himself tells us: “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you” (Isaiah 41:10). His faithfulness is not extinguished by the darkness of the world: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” (Isaiah 43:2).
God opens a way even where there is none. The life that God gives us conquers even death itself.