May 15th, 2020: God! Where Are You?

 God and Suffering - YouTube

Listening to a mother who lost two of her sons in a span of thirteen weeks is not something I expected yesterday morning. I was getting ready for the day when she called. I met her when the first son died from severe depression in late February. I just happened to know a friend of hers and her family. Her second was in a vehicle that was hit by a train last Friday just about 4 blocks away from her house.

The question she asked was: "Can you tell me where God is in the midst of all of this?". She was just sobbing. That is not an unreasonable question to ask when we are overwhelmed by our suffering.

Many years a Jewish rabbi asked a similar question in a concentration in Nazi Germany. As he was escorted by German troops across the main courtyard of the camp because they wanted him to witness the hanging of many of his people. "Where are you, Yahweh? Where are you when your chosen people suffer?" He then quietly heard a voice that said: "I am there with them...I am being hung with them."

"God is not on the outside looking in as you mourn the deaths of your sons. He is suffering with you and he is in you in your despair." There is no need for me to say any more than that. I just listened and allowed myself to feel the pain of this grieving mom. Not much was said after a while so I asked her whether I could pray. She accepted.

Many of us may have encountered a similar moment in our life and want God to show up to alleviate our pain. Sometimes he does that and sometimes he walks through that moment with us. It feels as if he is saying: "I am with you always."

Psalm 27:13-14

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

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