Where is God in all this mess?
Scary things happen to us all the time: accidents, earthquakes, the deaths of those we
love. Or we create tempestuous situations ourselves: anger, abuse, insults... And we may be tempted to
wonder: where is God in all this suffering? what’s God up to while I’m dealing with this
crisis? This is certainly the question
Job poses when, having lost both family and earthly possessions, he struggles to hold onto his faith. And God
responds: I am here. I am always here, in everything going on all
around you. Who shut within doors the sea?
I set limits for it, God
says. In other words, though you may not
understand this just yet, trust. Trust in my power to be with you through it
all, know that I am capable of wonders in
the abyss (as Psalm 107 reminds us), always at your side in your time of
need.
In Mark's Gospel, Jesus, too, exhorts his disciples to trust. While he sleeps
peacefully on a cushion in the bow of
the boat in which they are traveling, the disciples are terrified at the violent squall that causes waves to break over the boat, filling it
with water, filling them with chaos. His rebuke to the wind – Quiet! Be still! – might well be advice to the disciples as well. Why
are you terrified? Don’t you know
I’m right here? Do you not yet have faith? Trust!
We perish only if we don’t recognize Christ with us. He who, as Paul tells the Corinthians, died for all, calls upon us to do the same, to embrace our suffering, our every difficult moment, as easily as we accept the good, no longer living for ourselves, attentive only to him who for our sake died and was raised. Conquering fear, let us be a new creation, so that the love of Christ might impel us, driving us forward in our journey toward the fullness of union, quieting our distress, allowing us to appreciate the power of the Lord – the power that is Love – and all the ways that God, who is Love, is present, available to us at every moment of our lives.
We perish only if we don’t recognize Christ with us. He who, as Paul tells the Corinthians, died for all, calls upon us to do the same, to embrace our suffering, our every difficult moment, as easily as we accept the good, no longer living for ourselves, attentive only to him who for our sake died and was raised. Conquering fear, let us be a new creation, so that the love of Christ might impel us, driving us forward in our journey toward the fullness of union, quieting our distress, allowing us to appreciate the power of the Lord – the power that is Love – and all the ways that God, who is Love, is present, available to us at every moment of our lives.
Image source: Wordle
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