That Time God Went Missing
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his dwelling! 4 I would lay my case before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. 5 I would learn what he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. 8 If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; 9 on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him. (Job 23:3-5, 8-9)
It was a dark, stormy night. When the challenges of life overwhelm us, even when it's broad daylight, it can feel like a stormy night. Job had listened to his friends. He had pleaded his innocence, and he wanted nothing more, and nothing less, than an answer from God - the only one who could give him understanding and relief. But Job's pleas were met with a frustrating silence. And the void of all he'd lost spread into a chasm that seemed to separate him from the God who had been his security and peace.
Rather we wrestle with the past, have anxiety about the future, or are bewildered by the present, the dark stormy nights are never far from us - and they are painful. Pain often indicates that something is broken or strained. So we look for anything that will mend the damage and ease the hurt - even temporarily. But pain also indicates that we are awake, aware, vulnerable, alive. While pain is a part of life, it need not swallow us into its depths. We are never alone, and our cries do not fall on deaf ears. When we don’t understand the things we see,
we must trust what we know.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer; and by night, but find no rest. 3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. (Psalm 22:1-5)
