Where Is He?

The title of the book is, god is not here. The lack of capitalization is on purpose. It was written by a soldier who had gone through horrendous circumstances in Iraq. He was torn between what he thought was right and decent, and what he saw himself doing. It is not an uplifting book.

But the question about the presence of God in war is not an uncommon one. Faced with what can be the mayhem and atrocity of warfare, many people have asked, “Where is God? Why doesn’t he stop this? Why didn’t he prevent this?”

Some shake their heads in confusion. Others decide that God must be M.I.A. At COP Restrepo, someone wrote on the wall: “God hates us all forever!”

It isn’t just the professed atheist or the unchurched who wonders, “Where is God?” Sometimes the child of God also finds that question flooding into his mind.

We understand that there is evil in this world. We have come to expect a certain level of cruelty and viciousness. But sometimes we run into something that pegs the needle of unacceptable to the limit. We start to wonder about the justice of God, the love of God—even the very existence of God.

In short, with the devil’s encouragement, we have begun to play God.

We look at situations, and we make decisions about what a loving, just God should do. Then we fault him for not doing what we think we would do.

But he does not exist to please us, nor he does he act to do so. We are not his boss. We are not his inspector. We are not his teacher. He is not subject to our acceptance; and he does not need our vote.

“Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.”

This would be scary if we did not know for certain what it is that pleases him.

We don’t have to guess about that. The Good Shepherd assures his followers, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” (Luke12:32)

He is not subject to mood changes. He cannot be bribed. He will not go back on his word.

It pleases him to treat us as members of his family and heirs of his kingdom. It pleases him to rule the world for our benefit. It pleases him to remove all cause of fear from our lives.

We do not need to see him with our eyes. Our souls recognize him as Lord and King. He is there for us. He is ever-present. He is our faithful Father.

A good thing to remember on a Father’s Day.

We pray:
Heavenly Father, doubt and confusion sometimes enter our mind. We are so used to living by the phrase of “seeing is believing” that we forget that you operate above and beyond all senses. We forget that we see only a small piece of the picture of our lives. We sometimes forget that you are our Father who is in heaven. Point us to your Word. Let us again hear the words of Jesus, “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.” Then convince our doubting hearts that we are, indeed, watched over and blessed—now and forever. Amen.

Written by Pastor Paul Ziemer, WELS National Civilian Chaplain and Liaison to the Military, Cape Coral, Florida. Provided by WELS Ministry to the Military

Saturday night service: 6:00 pm
Sunday morning service: 10:00 am