DAILY DEVOTIONAL – May 5, 2020

“Where is God in All of This?!“

Prayer: Jesus, in the midst of the madness of this world, we come to You and pray the prayer of the father who came to You in fear as his son was mad and possessed by a demon, “Lord, I believe.  Help me in my unbelief!”  Amen.

Devotional – “Where is God in All of This?!”

There is a question that I believe has been asked by every single person who has ever been alive.  It’s a question that is asked by atheists and those who reject the very idea of God.  It’s a question that is asked by Christians, whether they are new or nominal believers, or well-studied pastors and scholars.  It’s a question asked by everyone, in the first place, because everyone in this life experiences tragedy, heartache, fear, anxiety, and uncertainty.  It’s a question asked by everyone, in the second place, because regardless of what a person might confess or reject about their beliefs, everyone knows deep down that God is real.  At least, that is what the Bible makes clear when it says in Romans 1:18-20, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

The question I am talking about has been asked by the faithful throughout the Bible.  Everyone from Job, to Moses, to Abraham, to King David, to the disciples, has looked up to the heavens and asked what some of you may be asking right now in the midst of a world turned upside down as a result of this Coronavirus pandemic.  “Where is God in all of this?”

That is exactly the question that was posed to me recently on social media.  The person asked, “I’m starting to wonder, ‘Where is God in all of this?’”  There are those moments as a pastor when something is said, or done, or asked, that brings everything else you are doing to a stop, because what was just asked is more important that anything else.  For whatever reason, the moment I saw that question asked in response to a recent social media post we made here at St. Mark, I knew I had to answer it right then and there.  “Where is God in all of this?”

I thank God for the person who asked that question, because I know it is a question all of you are asking as well.  It is a question I myself have asked.  “Where is God in all of this?”  For today’s devotional, I would like to share my answer to that question; the same exact answer I posted in response online.

Here is what I wrote and said:

We do not need to wonder at all [about where God is in all of this].  Know this, for certain.  The same God who was with Moses and the Israelites as they trembled in between the mountains of Migdol and the Red Sea, with nowhere to go as Pharaoh’s armies barreled down upon them, is with you.  As He parted the Red Sea, so He has provided salvation for us even in the midst of this crisis in the arms of Christ spread wide on the cross.

The same God is with you who was with Joseph as he was betrayed by his brothers, enslaved and imprisoned, but who through his faithfulness to God and in the promises of God even through his hardships was exalted to be ruler over all of Egypt (second only to Pharaoh himself), and was redeemed before his own brothers and father, saying to his brothers who sold him, “What you meant for evil against me, God made for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” – Genesis 50:20.  This same God still turns evil to good today, even now, in His time and in His perfect way.

The same God who was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as they remained faithful to God as they were thrown into the furnace for their faith and refusal to bend the knee to Nebuchadnezzar, but who did not burn up as “one like the Son of Man was with them”, is also with us.  The same God who closed the mouths of lions for Daniel, the same God who delivered David from Goliath and Saul, the same God who saved a remnant of Israel through Babylonian and Assyrian captivity, the same God who delivered Lot and his family from Sodom and Gomorrah, and the same God who remained faithful to His perfectly faithful Son Jesus, even as He prayed in distress in Gethsemane and suffered the cross for you and me, is with us and HAS ALREADY DELIVERED US through the resurrection of His Son Jesus.  This risen Jesus tells us, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33.

Jesus, who was perfect in every way, who healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, fed the hungry, and even raised the dead, suffered the greatest injustice of all being treated as a criminal.  But through it all, He knew, absolutely knew and trusted that God was with Him and would deliver Him…even from death itself.  And that is exactly what happened!

Jesus never mislead us or gave us false hope.  This world is sinful.  Full of evil and wickedness.  There will be suffering and turmoil.  Why does God let this happen?  Because He is gracious and loving, patient and gracious even to the wicked so that those who would have ears to hear the good news will hear while there is still time before the Last Day comes upon us like a thief in the night.  Peter says it this way in 1 Peter 3:8, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”  Because God has already secured our deliverance and salvation, He helps us endure this world for the sake of saving all who would come to faith…all who will turn to God because this virus wakes them up and draws them toward the ONLY ONE who holds life in His hands; the resurrected Christ, Jesus.  Why is God asking us to endure?  So that we would share just this message.  Hear and believe the word of God in Joshua 1:9, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

As we look through the pages of Scripture, one thing is made perfectly clear about God…He is always with us.  Instead of staying high above the wickedness and suffering of this world that we have brought about by our own sin, God came down into it with us, to burden it for us, to save us from it.  In the brokenness of our hearts and minds, we too often want God to be a God far off and aloof, a God who sits on His throne and directs the affairs of this world like a puppet master.  But that is not who God is.  He is a God who made us in His image, made us with the ability to love Him or disobey Him.  Our sinfulness and decision to disobey God and reject Him does not mean God will dishonor those He made in His image by ruling over them like a dictator; either by forcing only good things to happen or preventing the consequences of our own decision and actions.  God’s love is unfathomably bigger than that.  Instead, God comes into our mess with us, to burden our sin for us, to take our anxieties from us, and exchange them for the peace and assurance of knowing our life and salvation is secure because of the horrific price He paid for our sins, and His glorious resurrection from the dead that has already delivered us from sin, death and the devil.  When we look to the cross and the empty tomb and see the Lord Jesus who walked in our place and remember His words from the cross that “it is finished,” when we believe in Him and put our faith in Him and Him alone, then we are able to see exactly where God is in all of this.  He is right here with us.  Just as He has always been.

So, my friends, instead of asking, “Where is God in all of this?” we should be asking, “What is God doing in all of this?”  For that is what our God has shown and promised to do.  As He promised long ago in Isaiah 46:

God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

⁶ The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Thanks for joining me for another time of devotion in God’s Word, and remember my friends, God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today, and has already taken care of all of your tomorrows.  Amen.