In these dark days many people are asking “Where is God?” They wonder “Where did God go?” This is the question I’d like to address in this post. It is a most timely question as we welcome, or dread, a new year.
No, God’s probably not under the bed. In some sense He’s everywhere, but that would not be the first place I would look. However, if He chose to, He could reveal Himself in the most unusual of all places . . . in a prison cell, in a lion’s den, in a garden in Milan, on the road to Damascus. Wherever there are people in need. Anywhere man or woman has ever been, God was there already to meet them.
I saw a photo today of the Mariana Trench. At 36, 037 feet below sea level, this is the lowest point on earth. The weight of the entire ocean lies on whomever or whatever winds up there. That’s 15,750 pounds per square inch. It’s what scientists call crush depth. Every hollow organ in your body, every cavity in every bone of your body is instantly crushed. Your lungs, your sinuses, pulverized in the blink of an eye and filled with sea water just a degree or two above freezing. And because no light penetrates that deep, no one will see you. No one but God, that is. Because He is there, too. If you are in the DSV ship called the “Limiting Factor,” currently the only vessel that can dive that deep and you pray, God will hear you.
In contrast, the highest point on the planet is Mt Everest, or Chomolungma as the natives call it. Mt Everest is 29,032 feet above sea level. These climbers in the photo may or may not reach the summit, but if they do, God will be there to meet them. Not everyone who climbs Chomolungma will reach it. Many will develop a deadly condition from the rarified air. This is called HACE for High Altitude Cerebral Edema. The immediate requirement to save a life is to move the person to a lower altitude. But most climbers just push the person aside or step over them. Before long, the stricken climber is dead. The others would say that they would be risking their lives to save another, who is close to death. What they won’t admit to perhaps is that to save a life might mean they will not reach the summit, themselves. It’s a matter of priority to them. But God has different priorities, and is not interested in selfies taken from the top of the world.
Hopefully that was not the purpose of their climb because they could just as easily have met God at home and saved a bundle of money in kit and travel. And again, some will never return because there are sometimes deadly consequences on that mountain. It’s like that with God. When you find him, when you surrender to Him and ask Him into your heart, your old, sinful nature dies. You are dead to the world, the flesh and the devil. But the rewards are priceless and eternal. And God will never kick you to the curb.
This is a hypothetical meteor swarm millions of miles from anywhere. God knows the planet that came apart to create this rubble. Perhaps it was a water world? Perhaps there were friendly creatures shaped like ballons that floated in the skies? Or, perhaps there were crazy people with nukes there like we have on earth? Maybe it represents a warning to us? God knows the past, how this swarm came to be and he knows where these fragments will wind up. How many meteors or asteroids are there here? Twelve? Twelve thousand? He knows. Picture the millions of stars in the sky. God has a name for each one. And he knows them like we know the palm of our hand.
We can build a better world. Vladimir Putin can send the North Koreans home and withdraw his army so Ukraine can live in peace.
Hamas can choose to release the remaining hostages and Israel can then choose or be persuaded to withdraw from Gaza.
Our elected leaders can repent of their pride and arrogance. Christians can ask God to restore us all to the path of righteousness. As the prophet Isaiah wrote:
“Wash and make yourselves clean.
Take your evil deeds out of my sight;
stop doing wrong.
Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.”
This should be our national priority. Not “drill baby, drill!” Not “Immigrants raus!” Instead of retribution or payback, I would suggest that God is more interested in repentance and mercy. We hear the word “traitor” bandied about. I would suggest that mankind is at war with God and we are all traitors to the truth! To our Creator! We can say that Judas betrayed Jesus, but were it not for our sins, the sins of our fathers and the sins of our daughters and those who came before and will come after, Jesus might not have had to die in the first place. He didn’t come to Earth to kick ass. He had a better way, a better life for us, and if you are tired of this life, you might think about trying something different, because God has a better way for you. One that is drug free, where you won’t have to worry about Vladamir dropping a bomb in your lap. Even flying is more deadly than ever. I read in the Wall Street Journal this week that the most common cause of death among airline passengers today is that their plane is shot down by a missile. Not because of bird strikes or poor QC at Boeing or shoddy maintenance. We are killing each other deliberately. So the next time you board a flight, hug your children extra tight.
God wants you to know that there is much more to life than compound interest and bitcoins. Having friends with benefits is not the answer to life’s big questions and they won’t save your soul. Nor will mysterious lights in the sky at night make a difference (even to the good people in New Jersey who have been watching the skies almost every night this month.) There is nothing to suggest here that we are being visited. Folks are so desperate today that they are hoping that Martians or Venusians will arrive to save them, when salvation is already before their very eyes. Continuing Isaiah’s words as God spoke to him:
“Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.
‘Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the good things of the land;
but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword.’
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
God is offering us an alternative. How can we possibly refuse?
We may not have much time left. And if our planet and our civilization continue for another five millennia (or five thousand), what is that to you? None of us will ever see that. Anyone of us can die at any moment, and it’s only by the mercy of God that we draw the next breath. And why does God keep us alive? That is the million-dollar question. The prophet Jeremiah says (29:13) “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” If you need more information, you can find me here.
