With this study, I guess I've started to realize that my perception of God has been skewed. I assumed because I lived as a Christian that my life would be blessed and I could avoid the seasons of sorrow. The more I re-read through the bible, the more I realize that I can't find an example of a Jesus follower that did not experience major sorrow. Adam's son was killed, Abraham longed for a son, Jacob was sold as a slave, Moses didn't get to enter the promise land, David was chased by Saul, and the stories go on and on. Yet, these men were loved dearly by God. Then I read this scripture again that says "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;" Psalm 34:17-19
As I've wrestled with this concept, I was once again blown away with God's timing. This article written by Rich Searns, the President of World Vision arrived in my mailbox today and I just had to share it...
Since the devastating earthquake in Haiti, who of us has not asked the question, “Where was God?” The sudden deaths of so many innocent people and the staggering human suffering that persists seem to mock the very notion of a loving God. Where is God in Haiti?
There was another time that God was mocked in the face of suffering and evil. It happened on Calvary as Jesus Christ, God’s own son, was spat upon, beaten, and hanged on a cross. And people asked, where was God then? If he was God, why didn’t he save himself?
God had another way. On that cross, Jesus faced all the evil that ever was or ever would be. He took upon himself the sins of mankind, the evils of injustice, the pain of suffering and loss, the brokenness of the world. He felt every pain and took every punishment for every person who would ever live.
Where is God in Haiti? Christ is not distant from us in our times of suffering. He lies crushed under the weight of concrete walls. He lies wounded in the street with his legs broken. He walks homeless and hungry through the camps. He weeps uncontrollably over the child he has lost.
Where is God in Haiti? He hangs bloody on the cross: “A man of sorrows, and familiar with our suffering” (Isaiah 53:3).
“But where is hope?” we might ask. Here, alas, we need to see something not easily seen from human perspective. We, not God, are trapped in time. We, not God, see only in part and cannot yet see the whole. We, not God, must wait for that day when “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
We live in the not yet, but God sees the already. We see today and yesterday, not tomorrow - God sees all three at once. In Him, those who are crushed in Haiti are alive already. In Him, those who are orphaned in Haiti are reunited with family already. In Him, those broken in Haiti are healed already. In Him, those grieving in Haiti rejoice already. Jesus Christ is "before all things, and in Him all things hold together." (Colossians 1:17)He is no distant God who turns His back on us. He is the God who "so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). He is God, who shed His own blood for us.
What then must we do? Unlike God, we live in the time between the already and not yet, and we must wait until then. Until then, we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. Until then, we are called to comfort the afflicted; give food to the hungry and water to the thirsty. Until then, we are to shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, and grieve with the grieving. Until then, we are to care for the widow, the orphan, the alien, and the stranger.
We are to let our light so shine before others that they might see our good deeds and give glory to our Father in heaven. Until then, as the apostle Paul wrote, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors … as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Until then, we must show forth God’s deep love for Haiti.
