Where is God?

Last week the majority of the campus Christian groups met as they celebrated life in Christ and worked together to fulfill the call of Christ on campus. But at the conclusion of the week, some were left wanting and wondering. Most of the questioning came in the form of, "I really thought God was going to move in this situation?" or even "Where is God?"

Many people shared these thoughts with me at the end of the week and it got me thinking. It's hard sometimes to keep going or even to believe when it seems our God is so distant.

Maybe for some of us, it's the huge stumbling block that keeps us from believing in him and obeying his commands. So Sunday morning, I got up out of bed and I turned in my Bible randomly to Isaiah 57. In a key passage, God tells his people this message: "And of whom have you been afraid, or feared, that you have lied and not remembered me, nor taken it to your heart? Is it not because I have held my peace from of old that you do not fear me?"

In the passage, we see God asking his people, in this case, the reason why they are forsaking him and moving to idols. He says do you do these things just because I haven't done anything in a while? Are you giving up on me just because I haven't made any noise? He later goes on to say that these reasons aren't good enough and that just because he wasn't obviously there to us, we should still trust in him. We are still held accountable to that. Does that seem fair? Don't we deserve to feel him all the time?

It makes perfect sense. All of us, as we grow up, don't take our parents around with us everywhere we go. In most cases, we try to make sure they aren't with us. They've raised us, told us how we should conduct ourselves in our relationships and expect us to do so accordingly. If we don't, they hold us accountable while we are still in the house, in most cases. They do these little "trust building exercises" to see if we are able to handle bigger responsibilities.

This "taking the hands off the bike" action allows us to grow and ride on our own all while under the watching eye of our loving father. Let us not forget that he is always here for us. He calls us not to walk by our feelings or even believe in him solely out of feeling but to simply believe and trust that he is. Let's keep our chins up. We are not without hope, when he does finally show himself, it's going to be good.

Contact Nate Stansberry at stansberry5@marshall.edu.