-Erwin Lutzer, Where
Was God?
I just finished Erwin Lutzer’s book, Where Was God? in which he addresses
philosophical questions about how natural disasters fit in with the character
of God.
If you’re “normal” like me and millions of other
human beings on this earth, when we see natural disasters occurring around the
world, we ask how a caring God can allow such things to happen.
I am not God so I do not know everything about why
natural disasters happen, but what I do know is that disasters on every level
on this earth can be used by God to teach us and to help us learn more about ourselves,
the world and who God is.
“You intended to harm me, but God intended it
for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
– Genesis 50:20 (NIV)
This verse was said by Joseph, who went through
an entire series of very difficult events in his life. He was sold into slavery
by his brothers, by his own family. Joseph continued to overcome obstacle after
obstacle and by the grace of God, he came to be the second most important person
under the Pharaoh.
This quote is what he said to his brothers.
This verse has so much meaning to me and so many other people because so many
times, we are hurt by other people. However, God truly can turn the most
difficult things in our lives into blessings. I have encountered this in my own
life.
When my family was evicted the summer before
my senior year of high school, we quickly had to figure out where I would stay
for the summer. The mother of a friend of mine at church helped me to get
connected to a camp for children and adults with special needs. I also had been
set up to go on a mission trip to build homes in the Appalachian area for
people who needed them.
The day I found out we were evicted, I was so
incredibly frustrated, so angry. How could God let this happen? Didn’t He care?
That summer will forever be etched in my
memory as one of the best summers I have ever lived through. It was not easy,
but it was so blessed. I fell in love with everyone I worked with at the camp.
Many of the other camp counselors were from other countries and they asked me
how I was volunteering as a camp counselor for free. I told them that I did not
care about the money. Seeing smiles on the faces of the campers, receiving
their hugs, and having a bed to sleep on with a roof over my head meant more
than any money could give. Helping build a porch and working on a team of my
peers and some adults from my church was more than I ever could have wished for
that summer.
You really never know how God is going to use
the obstacles in your life.
Growing up in a family that did not have a
lot of money taught me that money is just a material thing that can be used to
obtain material possessions. Our worth in this life is not defined by this
material thing. Rather, I believe that most of the valuable things on earth are
immaterial.
These immaterial things include our capacity
to love, our capacity to care, our capacity to share the love of God, and our
capacity to forgive those who have harmed us very deeply. Time is immaterial as
well and without time, we would be nothing. Without God, we are nothing.
Without God’s love, we are nothing.
Two of the most well-known and most used Scripture
verses are the following:
"And we know that all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
-Romans 8:28 (KJV)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to
give you hope and a future.”
-Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
How many times have you just wished that you could
snap your fingers and all your struggles could go away? All your illnesses
would go away in a second? All your anger, your deep hurts and resentments would
go away in a flash?
I sure have… But that is not what these verses are
saying.
I am not saying that miraculous healings don’t
occur. I fully believe that God has all the power in the world to take all the
negative things out of our lives in a second.
So why does He not do that?
While I am not God, I can say from my experiences
that going through the difficult times in my life truly helped me and continue
to help me learn about God. The trials allow me to grow closer to Him and to
truly see how His strength helps me through them.
Many people see the verses above and believe that
once they believe in God and once they surrender their lives to Him that
everything’s just going to magically be perfect.
I don’t believe that’s it.
I believe that when you truly trust God, love Him
and communicate with Him on a deep level, it does not matter how much money you
have, what kind of car you drive, how many children you have, how many friends
you have… None of that matters, because you realize that God’s love is so much
greater, so much deeper, so much wider, so much higher than all of that.
The trials that you and I face are seen through
our eyes in the present time. A lot of times, I just feel so overwhelmed by the
struggles in my life that I lose sight of the “bigger picture.”
If you’ve ever been on an airplane and looked out
the window and seen the horizon with all the little houses and the little cars,
you know what I mean by this bigger picture. We get so bogged down by daily chores
and errands that we forget the bigger picture of life. We even may forget who
holds our past, our present and our future.
We truly have nothing to fear even through the
most difficult times, because God holds our lives, the lives of those around
us, this world we call home and this universe we live in within His hands. All
of it is within His ultimate control.
I want to leave you with a song that I have listened
to many times lately and it got me through my recent hospitalizations.
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