Where Is God In Our Troubled And Chaotic World?

Sometimes the world appears to be so troubled and chaotic it may seem like God has turned His back and is no longer there.

God has created human beings with free will and there will be people who will exercise free will in ways that are terrible, foolish, dangerous, tragic, inhumane and, yes, evil. If God were to intervene and stop a person from exercising his/her free will, then it would no longer be free will.

But God has not turned His back.

Our understanding is limited. I realize remarks like this can sound like trite cop outs when tragedies occur but it is true. We only see in a partial way. I do not write this to excuse or minimize the atrocious things which happen in our world. They anger me and they break my heart.

I only mean to suggest that as we try to analyze and think about the events in our world—as we try to make sense of what surely seems to be senseless—we are doing so with limitations in our knowledge and understanding.

When I am frustrated by the pain, turmoil and hate in our world and I think, “Where are you, God?” it helps me—at least a little bit—to remember God understands what it means to be the recipient of pain, turmoil and hate in a very personal way. He is not a deity who stands removed from the difficult realities of life. He is, the Bible reminds us, a God with wounds.

Life can definitely be perplexing and perhaps we will not always be able to see it, but He does care.