Are you There God?

I came across an article recently entitled “Are You There, God”? It was written by a woman who had experienced several devastating experiences in her life. First, she had been informed that a person whom she had known for most of her life had died the previous day in an automobile accident. At the time of her death, the lady was undergoing treatment for cancer. She had gotten married just a few weeks before the accident took her life. Secondly, the writer also mentioned that a woman, whom her community had rallied around, lost her battle with cancer a little over a month after her daughter’s first birthday. Thirdly, that month a 2-year-old boy in her city had allegedly been killed by his own father. In addition to all of this, the writer’s sister was undergoing medical tests for cancer, and she herself was afflicted with MS.

After listing all these misfortunes, she asks the question: “God, where’s the justice? What’s the purpose? God where are you”? Her prayer life had been a source of strength and blessing in the past; but now she was experiencing a sense of isolation; even going to church seemed futile.

“But still I went, hoping to find relief, praying for comfort. Instead, I felt like a stranger. Prayers that used to flow off my tongue now tripped me up, leaving me feeling frustrated rather than peaceful. To say that God and I were not on the same page was a vast understatement.”

“But you know what? It’s okay. I know it is because I’m not the only one who has ever felt this way. In fact, I’ve never felt closer to God than I have in that state of loneliness and questioning. I find comfort and strength, knowing that I am not alone in calling God ‘on the carpet’. It’s okay for me to get angry, to ask questions, to seek answers. And when I am done ranting and raving, God will still be there. I found encouragement when one of my friends told me; ‘When everything seems like it’s falling apart, that’s when God is putting things back together just the way He wants it.’

“The challenge, however, is allowing myself to remain open to those moments. It’s not always easy. Right now, God and I are working through some difficult things, but I know God is in it for the long haul, as am I.”

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When You Question God

Have you ever questioned God about the seeming injustice in your life? Perhaps you have felt like the biblical character Job at times. What really affected Job wasn’t so much the suffering he encountered, but what I would call the “where are you and why?” syndrome. He wanted to encounter God so he could plead his case and find out the “why” of his suffering. After all, he was a godly man and what he was going through just didn’t seem right.

Job 23:8–10 — “But He knows the way that I take and when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”

Now that is an expression of faith in God! Faith says, “God knows what I am going through, and when He has finished perfecting me, I shall come forth as gold.” I will have learned the “why” of my testing which, in the long run will teach me valuable lessons of dependance upon God that I would have never learned had I not gone through the time of testing.

You may not understand what He is doing right now, but He desires that you to come to a place where you will simply trust Him, a place of surrender to His will. A surrendered life becomes a fulfilled life; a fulfilled life is one that is filled with blessings from God!