Where is God when there are hard things in life?
This question matters, and it matters a lot. But over the years I have heard many answers that don’t necessarily line up with Scripture very well.
I think this question has scared many parents over the years. Maybe many Christians too have been scared to be asked this question.
But I believe the Bible answers this question and I am going to try to give you an answer that comes from God’s Word. It will not be an exhaustive answer, but I believe it will be true one.
Before we answer the question let’s recount something that happened to one man…
Jacob’s Encounter with God
In Genesis 32 we read the account of an encounter between God and Jacob. But the story that leads up to this point is really important too, so lets review.
Jacob was the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham. He was also the younger twin brother of Esau. Before Jacob was born God promised to his parents that Jacob, the younger son, would rule over Esau, the older. This is exactly what happened. Through some deceitful actions, Jacob stole the birthright that from his older brother; first having traded Esau for his birthright for a bowl of stew and then by tricking their father into believe that he was actually Esau, his older brother.
After this turn of events Jacob fled his home for fear that his brother would seek retaliation against him for his trickery.
14 years later with 2 wives, many children and incalculable wealth later Jacob goes to return to his homeland. Afraid that his brother is still angry with him and will want revenge (though this turns out to be untrue), Jacob divides up all of his family and possessions into groups to send in waves back to his home. He also sends droves of gifts ahead of them to give to his brother in order to placate him in the hopes that he won’t be angry.
But on the way, despite all of the concerns and worries that Jacob had to this point, he meets God. And the encounter that he has with the Lord isn’t an easy one. Jacob spends one whole night wrestling with God. At the very end of the wrestling match, when Jacob is no doubt exhausted, the Lord touches Jacob’s hip and causes an injury there.
The wrestling match comes to and end, the Lord blesses Jacob, and Jacob walks away limping.
The Problem
For many of us this story will leave us wondering about what seems like a problem. Doesn’t God desire to heal? Doesn’t he desire our good? Doesn’t want to give us blessings? Are we supposed to come away from an encounter with God healed and not hurt?
Some Considerations
Before we unravel that dilemma let’s consider some things from the text.
Jacob is no match for God. God will destroy cities, part seas, bring plagues and many other miraculous things through the family line that will come from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God didn’t wrestle with Jacob because he couldn’t prevail, he wrestled with Jacob because Jacob needed to go through the wrestling match.
God blessed Jacob. The end of the wrestling match concludes with Jacob clinging to the Lord and asking him to bless him. In other words, Jacob knew he needed something from the Lord that he could not provide for himself. He needed God.
God injured Jacob. But…in the process of being injured God revealed something to Jacob that he needed more than a well functioning body, he needed the Lord to provide for him what he was unable to provide for himself.
So Where Is God?
So where is God when life get’s hard? I think that Psalm 119 might give us a clue. Read the two following verses carefully…
“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.”
“I know, O LORD, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.”
Sometimes we need the affliction of God to keep us from going astray, to keep us from getting lost. But notice that when he does afflict us, he does so in faithfulness. How could this be? How could God be both faithful and afflict us?
Romans 8:28 helps us out here. This verse is often used tritely and to dismiss the concerns of people. But Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, doesn’t offer this as some trite pat answer to whatever may trouble us.
Romans 8:27 tells us that whenever life is hard and we are groaning under the weight of the sinful world that we live in (that is the context of Romans 8), that the Holy Spirit prays for us. Imagine that. The Holy Spirit, groaning under the weight of our struggles, prays for us from right inside us!
Then the very next verse says:
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
The Conclusion
The reality is that we all live in a broken, sinful, and cursed world. All creation groans under the weight of what our sin has wrought. We groan under the weight of the result of our sin. And the Holy Spirit of God groans right along with us, all while praying for us, because of what our sin has caused.
But God is faithful! He is faithful to use the affliction in our lives to draw out our need of him. He uses it to cause us to see that we need from him what we cannot supply for ourselves. He desires to bless us, but also desires to so in the understanding of our need of him.
I don’t know about you, but I would rather walk with a limp and understand my desperate need of God than be ignorantly self reliant all my days.
Before God afflicted us we went astray. But like the psalmist, in faithfulness God has afflicted us that we might be brought back to him. And when we have returned, we will find that he is more satisfying than anything else we could imagine.