WHERE IS GOD WHEN YOU CAN’T FIND HIM?
Every Christian gets to that point where they begin to question the existence of God. It’s a necessary step in our Christian growth— a time where we push beyond the hand-me-down Christianity that we inherit from our parents and seek God for ourselves. For some people, this could go south depending on their individual situation and experiences. I remember being much younger and asking myself this very question— is God really real? It was a foundational moment in my relationship with God and the reason behind so many of the beliefs I hold dear today.
The recent #ENDSARS uproar in Nigeria made me realise how so many Nigerians may be sitting around asking themselves the same question— where is God in the midst of all this suffering? But just as it’s said in Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun. Visit Judges 6:13 with me. Gideon asks a question so many of us ask in our hearts, an honest question. When really bad things happen, it often feels as though God may be absent. Many Christians are brought up with the understanding that if God was truly with them, no evil could befall them. Now this is okay when you’re a cute six year old but when life starts to happen, you need a new mentality. Matthew 8:23-27 highlights this even better.
Many of us think that because Jesus is in the boat, we have immunity from the storm. God doesn’t promise us a life free from trials and tribulations. Repeatedly, He says to us ‘Do not be afraid’ because He knows that there is a tendency for us to be afraid when life happens. Isaiah 43:2 puts it plainly “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” It’s not even an ‘if’ statement; it’s a ‘when’ statement because God knows that life won’t always go our way. The Bible says “WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH THE FIRE, YOU WILL NOT BE BURNED!” It does not say, you will not get hot and uncomfortable, or that you will not be pushed to your last breath, but that despite all the heat, discomfort and strain, you will not burn!
The Bible says “WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH THE FIRE, YOU WILL NOT BE BURNED!” It does not say, you will not get hot and uncomfortable, or that you will not be pushed to your last breath, but that despite all the heat, discomfort and strain, you will not burn.
When bad things happen to me (and I’m actually calm and not going all ballistic about it), I make a conscious effort to speak out these Bible verses over and over– I use them as my phone wallpaper and status, paste them on the walls of my room or listen to songs with these words at their core. There are certain seasons when you have to mentally convince yourself that God is indeed there. You just have to believe God. He’s not a man that He should lie. Sometimes, you’ve got to say it over and over just so it sinks in– God makes no mistakes!
God is not God because He is good to you and He blesses you and all that good stuff. God is God, period! And that won’t change. In the pit, He is God. In the fire, He is God. In the storm, He is still God. And the best part is, He is always with us, even when we cannot feel it, because it’s just so.
A lot of the evil happening around us is evidence to the fact that God gives man the gift of choice. Looking at the recent events in Nigeria, one is tempted to wonder if God is God over Nigeria. But the fact that the leaders choose evil and corruption and people suffer as a consequence does not mean God does not love His people. Christians often ask “if God is indeed God, why do bad things happen to good people?” Well honey, if bad things only happen to bad people and good things to good people, everyone would be good now, wouldn’t we all? And everyone would choose God because that would mean immunity from bad things. But God wants you to choose Him for Him, not because He will shield you from evil. And many times, bad things happen because we get lazy and we don’t pray! At least we don’t, until stuff starts going south, then we pray for two minutes and start wondering where God is.
Ezekiel 22:30 is a verse that always cuts deep “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one.” How many times are we found in the gap, doing what actually makes a difference? And He was looking for someone who stood put, unshaken in the gap, not someone who passed by momentarily. Even Gideon back in Judges 6 was just threshing wheat when the angel of God came and found him. After verse 13 where he asks God what many of us ask, God’s reply shocks me. God isn’t now about to explain why His presence doesn’t guarantee the absence of trials, He tells him to suit up so he can be the answer to his own prayer for Israel, furthermore reminding him that He will be with Him.
Don’t get lazy and pick the easy way out. It’s much easier not to pray until bad things start happening. It’s much easier to question whether or not God really is than to spend time digging into His word for evidence that He is. Many of us are just nearing the prime of our lives. Our problems are mainly centered on ourselves. This is the time to learn how to trust in God and understand that He is with us in the storm, and not to be afraid when we find Him asleep on the boat.
