“Where is the Lord?” (Jeremiah 2:6)
Ever had to call your own cell phone to hear the ring because you don’t know where you left it? Sorry to say, I have had to do that more often than I would like to admit. Cell phones are not the only thing we lose. Seems we are always searching, wondering where something is. Car keys, our purse, our favorite pen, that recipe for beef stew that we like. “And…..just where is Waldo, anyway?”
But, searching for something at times takes on a whole new dimension to our well- being, especially when we feel like we can’t find God. Or is it that he can’t find us? Where is God when the bottom drops out of our life? Why does it feel like he’s not around when everything seems to go wrong? Where is he when our loved one dies? How can we find him when we lose our job, or the prognosis from the doctor is cancer? Where did he go off to when our husband walked out of us, or our kids got addicted on drugs? Where has he gone while this world is being turned upside down? Why can’t we see him during difficult times? Why can’t we find him then?
When I think of biblical characters who suffered great losses, Job immediately comes to my mind. Talk about a bad day? In one swoop, he lost his children, his servants, his animals, his health. He lost everything – except his nagging wife. Now there was a man who we could say had every right to question where God was. And he did. That tells me he was as human as we are. But after his frustrating search for his Creator, Job came to a very astute and spiritual conclusion about finding God when the pain engulfs life. We read his thoughts in chapter 23 of Job, where we find him voicing a complaint. “My complaint today is still a bitter one, and I try hard not to groan aloud. If only I knew where to find God, I would go to his court. I would lay out my case and present my arguments.” (Verses 2-4). Have words similar to those ever crossed your mind or come out of your mouth? Then you are in good company. However, listen to Job’s conclusion regarding his frustration in verses 8 through 10. He continues, I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed.” Then in verse 10 he states one of the greatest theological truths that every one of us need to imprint on our hearts and minds. “But he knows where I am going.” Wow! What a statement!
We may not always feel like we know where God is or what he’s doing. But remember, there is not a single second in our life that God does not know where we are, what we are experiencing, where we have been, and most importantly, where we are going. In Ezekiel 34:11 we read these words. “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep.” And when he has found us and placed us in the position of being his in Christ Jesus, trust me…….He isn’t going anywhere.
Darlene