Where is God?

Have you ever taken the time to think about
God’s presence in your life?

{This is a 6-part series to help you reflect on the presence of God in your life – I encourage you to record your responses at the end of each part for future reflection.}

One of the big questions a lot of people deal with when thinking about God is this: How is God present in my life? In order to approach that, it’s important to first think about why you think God put you here in the first place. Of course, this assumes that you believe there is a God and that you were created by God. With that established, it’s a good idea to ask yourself about your purpose in life. Why did God put you where you are in this life?

This, of course, means you have to do some reflecting about what you feel is your purpose. Is it to be a spouse? Or a parent? Or a teacher? Or a truck driver? What is the thing that gives you energy? What is it that makes getting up in the morning worthwhile? What is it that gives you satisfaction and happiness? Those are the main benefits to be gained from what you are doing or have done with your life. Thinking about those benefits helps us to get in touch with why we are here.

Take some time to think on these questions and write down your answers for future reflection:

Do you believe there is a God?

 

Do you believe God created you and put you where you are in life?

 

What do you feel is your purpose in life?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those
who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:28)

 

Where is God?

Part Two

 

Once you have come to an answer to why God put you here, it is a good exercise to think and pray about how you see God present in the world around you and, more particularly, in your own life – in the past, the present, and the future. Take a few minutes to think first about our world, our society, our country, your community, and even your family. If you’re like most people, you’ll have to deal with such unpleasantries as war, terrorism, discrimination, disease, and other horrors throughout our history and even in today’s world. This will bring up unfortunate times in our own country’s history like Civil War, slavery, religious persecution, discrimination against blacks and other minorities, as well as many other things that can make us wonder just where God has been anyway.

We can fast forward in our reflections to today’s world and think about mass shootings in cities, schools, and other places which have not only caused loss of life but also the loss of a sense of security in a world which used to feel safe. We can think about our communities and how it has made life more enjoyable or more of a problem. We can think of our families with the good and bad things that make up our lives together. As we ponder these, we can see some places where God’s presence is evident but we can’t help but sometimes wonder where is God?

Ponder these questions for now (don’t forget to write down your answers for further reflection):

Where do I think God has been throughout our history?

 

 

Where do I think God is in today’s world?

 

 

Where do I think God is in our country and in my community?

 

Where do I think God is in my family?

 

 

 

 

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock;
if any one hears my voice and opens the
door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
(Revelation 3:20)

 

 

Where is God? 

Part Three

 

This may be the most vital piece of your spiritual life – finding out where you believe God has been and is in this world. Until we have settled that question, we cannot move forward in our spiritual quest to find God. So where is God for you? Is he in the patriotism and heroism that made this country free? Is he in the many miracles that happen in the world of medicine? Is he in the giving to the poor and needy of the world? Is he in the churches filled with people worshiping together every week? I have to say, it’s relatively easy to see God at work in those things and many other good things in this world.

But we also have to ask: Is he in the discrimination, pain, disease, and enmity that has been part of our world’s history and still seems to have surrounded us in this world today? Is he in acts of terrorism or other violence that seem to plague today’s society? Is he in the political unrest that pervades governments all around the world? This is when it’s hard to figure out where God is. Could he be just watching from the sidelines waiting for us to crash and burn? Could he be mustering all the angels and archangels to jump in the fray and bring about a mighty kingdom as he promised? Could he be in the very middle of it all? It’s a difficult question but one we encounter every single day as we live through all of the stuff life is throwing at us? Just where do you find God in this world?

Think and pray on these questions:

 

Where do I think God has been in the good things that have happened?

 

 

Where do I think God is in the bad things that have happened?

 

 

 

Where do I think God is in the world today

 

 

 

From one man (God) made every nation of humanity, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that we would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:24-27)

 

 

Where is God?

Part Four

 

This brings us to another important aspect of the whole idea of God’s presence and that is the more personal question: Do you think God is present for each person in the world? Do you think God seeks us out and speaks to us spurring us into action on his behalf? Do you really feel God’s presence and know in your heart that God is not only there but holding you, supporting you, and loving you through whatever you are experiencing at the time? Is he in the quiet moments you create in the midst of all that life brings or do you feel God with you all the time, in whatever you are doing, saying, feeling whether good, bad, or anytime? Is he in the day-to-day life in your community and family?

You may answer yes to any or all of the above but the real question is not if other people experience God in their lives and it’s not even just if YOU experience God in your life. Everybody has their own ideas about how God relates to us and everybody has their own experiences of God. We can only come to our own understanding of God if we explore what ideas we have about God and what our own experiences have been. So, take some time to ponder you own experiences with God and what kind of relationship you have with God – is it daily and do you talk to him or just listen? Do you say prayers and then listen for God to speak to you? Do you think about God in the person of Jesus or do you pray to an ethereal God somewhere that you can only imagine? Keep in mind that none of these ways are better than others and there is no judgment about how you experience God. It is extremely personal and therefore, between you and God.

Answer these questions to clarify your beliefs:

 

How do I feel God’s presence in my life?

 

In God’s touching and motivating me?

 

In God’s supporting me in times of crisis?

 

 

In God’s loving me no matter what I do?

 

 

In God’s nearness to me all the time?­

 

 

 

 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from
the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)

 

Where is God?

Part Five

If you ask a lot of people about what God has been doing and is doing in this world, you’re likely to hear this: “God works in mysterious ways. “Some people say this with a strong belief that it is true but there are also those who say this without really thinking about what it means. Does this mean that God takes care of this world by moving secretly and without explanation to make things happen or not happen? Does this mean that God expects us to just take what happens with no idea why it happened and how it came to be? Are we to then accept whatever comes as God’s will and just deal with it the best way we can?

I think these are incredibly hard questions and I don’t have all the answers. I do know that God is not what I will call a “closet operative.” In other words, I believe that God acts openly in our lives which brings up the final question: If God is indeed at work in this world and if God does not make it a secret that he is present and active in this world, then why do bad things happen to good people and why do good things happen to bad people? Does God dole out the good and the bad things that happen in life or is this a random universe where things just happen with no explanation? It does feel that way often, so we must examine this and come to an acceptable way of looking at the whole concept of good and evil. Is God only responsible for the good things that happen, which he doles out randomly with no help from us? Is God also

responsible for the bad things that happen, which we seem to have no control over and which, many times, it seems that God doesn’t care? These questions areespecially difficult in the wake of disasters that seem to happen out of the blue – either natural ones or human ones. These seem to be the moments when we want to shake our fists at God and yell, “How could you let this happen? Where were you when…? Why didn’t you stop…?”

Those are natural human responses to such terrible events and I have always believed that it’s okay to rant and rave at God. I believe God shares our feelings of horror and loss and understands how impossible it is for us to keep them inside. So, I always tell people, “Go ahead…God can take it!” But there has to come a point in time when we find reconciliation with God about these moments in life – when we have to come down on one side or another. Either God is in the midst of life or he’s not. If he’s not, then he’s pretty much useless as Gods go. If he is in the midst of it all, then we have to decide what we think he is doing. Heavy stuff – so take some time to pray about it all and then…

Please take some time to ponder these important questions:

What does God’s “mysterious ways” mean to me?

 

Do I believe that the things that happen in our lives which we cannot explain are of God?

 

And if I do, why do I believe God keeps these things “mysterious” or secret?

 

Why do I believe that bad things happen to good people?

 

Do I you believe that God is responsible for this?

 

Do I believe God cares what happens to us and what do I believe is my part in this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6,7)

 

Where is God?

Part Six

We have come to the end of this and, hopefully, you have come to some understanding about God’s presence in the world and in your own life. It is likely that some of you are still struggling with the questions raised; that’s OK because these are difficult questions about God. As I said earlier, I don’t have all the answers to these questions – no one does. These are what I call “God things.” That just means that there are some things that only God knows and understands. We don’t and aren’t supposed to know these things. If we did, we would then be God and the world would be in a peck of trouble!

The truth as I know and believe it about God’s presence or non-presence is simple and biblical: God is with each and all of us through the good and the bad, loving and supporting us no matter what we have done or what we do or what we will do. That is called grace and God has grace abundantly; in fact, his grace is not limited ever.

I also believe that God does not “do” things to us. God does not “take” people. I believe that this is where our responsibility comes in – with God’s design, guidance, help, and strength, which is there with us whenever we ask, we have a causal effect on our environment. We can make good things happen but we can also make bad things happen. We can discover miracle drugs that defeat dreaded diseases but we can also wreak havoc on our own bodies, causing some of those same dreaded diseases to consume and, many times, destroy us. We can ignore God’s calling to us, go our own way doing our own things and cause all kinds of bad things or keep the good things from enhancing our lives. God does not cause cancer or hurricanes or headaches. Life, with all its twists and turns, causes many things we cannot explain but there are some things that are clearly our responsibility.

It has become clear that cancer is the result of our life style in many cases; in some forms of this disease, the cause may be inborn, the result of generations of abuse heaped on our bodies by our own hand. Headaches and other physical maladies are the result of germs or genetic disorders or physical abuse and, while the cause sometimes eludes even the best medical professionals, are most certainly NOT caused by God. Scientists have proven that such natural disasters as hurricanes, earthquakes, and other destructive events, while occurring in nature, have become more violent and destructive as a result of mankind’s abuse of the earth. God is a good and perfect God so that kind of destructive activity is the result of the natural order of things which the human-made destruction is a result of the evil that pervades our very existence and the world in which we live.

So, it is clear to me that this is why we pray to God – to ask first for forgiveness for our part in the “bad” things that happen to people and the world and then for help in dealing with it. As long as we remain human and therefore imperfect, we need God’s help to effect any of those good things we talked about in an earlier part of this. And so, we must pray. But this is one of those “God things.” We don’t know why some of our prayers seem to be unanswered while some seem to be successful. This is the subject of my next series – Prayer. In the meantime, May God guide and direct us and make his presence known as we face whatever comes our way in this world and may we be constantly aware of these words of Jesus – “Lo, I will be with you, even to the end of the age.”

CONCLUSION

As we have discovered, one of the things about God that is the most difficult to comprehend is his presence in this world he created. There are many different beliefs about this. Some believe that God made the world and then sat back to watch. Some believe that he makes appearances here and there to be sure we don’t forget about him. Some believe that God is present in our hearts and as long as we think of him often and talk to him, we will know his presence. And then there are those who don’t believe in God at all so the question of his presence in the world is a moot point.

I hope you will take some time to reflect on how you feel God’s presence in your life. Enjoy!

Write down some final thoughts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like to know about the release of the 3rd article in this series, “Prayer,” please fill out the form below so that we’ll have your email address. I promise that we do not give away any email addresses and you may cancel out of this opt-in process at any time. Just shoot me an email at sbb2647@gmail.com with the subject Opt Out and I’ll take care of it. I don’t send out a lot of mail so you won’t be inundated. In the meantime, may you see God wherever you go.

God Bless,
Susan

 

 

 

And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant,
with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 1:14)

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