| [disclaimer: All of this wisdom is not mine. I gleaned it from a sermon preached by Lauren Winner on the book of Esther. Her ideas, spinned in my own words]
So often during difficult times we claim, "God, why are you absent? Where the heck are you?"
But yet with the same mouth we proclaim that God is omnipresent. In other words: He is always there, and there, and there, (well, everywhere).
If we play this out, it's impossible for God to be absent from trials, from suffering, from heartache. God's never absent. He's too sovereign, too mighty, too powerful to be absent. A more proper way to view it is sometimes God seems hidden to us.
And when He's hidden, He must be present. One can't hide somewhere that He isn't (that would be silly/nonsensical). Thus, God is always there. He always sees. Often He's not readily apparent in the trials of our lives.
This is really helpful to me, but still confusing. For how can God truly and completely be 'Emmanuel' (God with us) if he's hiding? Why would He hide? This is a question that Jewish scholars and Christian Old Testament Scholars have pondered for centuries. To claim that I have the answer would be stupid. I don't.
But, as Winner spoke:
"God's hiddenness is supposed to prompt us to action."
Thus, when God seems hidden in a given circumstance, we aren't to doubt whether or not He's present. Rather, we're to get on our knees and plead for him to reveal Himself, for His pure and perfect light to shine amidst the darkness that pervades so much suffering and heartache.
Bekah and I pray daily that God would reveal himself in our adoption. That His light would break forth amidst the darkness of that wretched international adoption red tape. He has often seemed hidden, as we wait, and wait, and wait for this grueling 14 month process to end with Isa in our arms.
And all the while, while God seems hidden, we have a responsibility, as Christ's ambassadors, TO ACT ON HIS BEHALF. We are His witnesses. We are to act on His behalf, to reflect His love and purpose in lives and situations.
God's not absent from your life. He may seem hidden, but He's not absent. It's our duty to find Him, be the vessels of His light and truth, and pray for his divine intervention.
 Drew Moser is Bekah's man, Ben's dad, an adoptive father of a Guatemalan baby girl whom he's yet to meet (almost there!), and a pastor/writer/schemer from NW Ohio. He blogs @ www.drewmoser.com. |
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