Where is God?

Life is hard. Life is scary. Life is sad. 

I have recently become abundantly aware of how hard, scary, and sad life can be. It seems like sadness is all around us. I see it in the tragedy in Connecticut, the mall shooting in Orgeon, the 2 unexpected deaths in our church family yesterday, the 8 people that we currently know that have cancer, all the health problems I have faced in the past year, the 3 facebook friends I have that have lost family members unexpectedly this week and the passing of my uncle Bill this morning.  All of this sadness could lead to the question, 

"Where is God?"

Well, I will venture to say that God is right here! He is right beside us through the tragedies, the tears, the questions, and the pain. The problem is, we don't recognize him. We are often so self absorbed or ignorant that we don't even realize how much we need God or that His presence is constant.

Our Pastor told a story yesterday morning of a man who bought a Model T. He was driving the car one day when it stopped operating correctly. He was on the side of the road, looking under the hood, when a man pulled up behind him and offered to help him. The kind gentleman looked under the hood, messed with some cords, pulled on some rods, unplugged and re-plugged and then, the Model T started right up. The owner was amazed. He thanked the man asked him his name. The man answered, "I'm Henry Ford." The owner of the car never even realized that he was in the presence of the man that created the Model T. No wonder he knew exactly how to fix it!

That is the way we live our lives. The Creator of this world longs to be apart of our lives. He has the answer to every problem we have but we don't even realize He is there. John 1:10-11 says,  "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." This verse is talking about Jesus. The God of the Universe stepped down into our world and no one even recognized him. No one received Him. The same is true today. 

God promises to be near to us, to comfort us and give us peace. He promises to help us through these hard, scary, sad times. He will fulfill His promises but we have to be aware of Him, seeking Him, and making Him the most important thing in our lives. If the most important person in your life does something...you'll probably notice it and most likely tell others about it. So, why are there times that we don't notice when God is at work? Could it be that He isn't very high on our "important people" lists?

Today I am thankful that even through the difficult times of life, God is our comfort and our peace. He humbled himself and gave His life so that we might have a relationship with Him. He loves us and wants to be the center of our lives. He is constantly at work and He wants us to be aware of Him. I am grateful that because of this blog and a journal that Bryan and I have been keeping, I am able to see God at work consistently in our lives. Even when life is hard, scary, and sad, God is right here! He has never moved and He never will. Hallelujah!