There seems to be a lot going on in our society today that makes people question God. From the simple, “My game is a wreck,” to the more complex, “I thought God was a God of love, so why would He allow this to happen in Haiti?” Everywhere we look, people are hurting and looking for answers. Sometimes friends try to comfort us and explain why God does what He does, but rarely does it pacify our pain and struggle.

So, God, where are You? That was a question Job posed in Scripture. It happened as he was debating with his three friends who came to visit him. If you read his story, you find out that Job was in a bad way. He’d lost it all: family, health and wealth, and he was trying to trust God in the midst of it all. His friends weren’t much comfort to him. They told him he must have done some pretty bad stuff for God to hammer him so badly (see Job 22). But, in the end, Job learned (as we all should) that God is truly sovereign over all things.

People ask the question, “God, where are You?” so often. The typical person thinks that when good things happen in life, obviously God is there. But they think He has abandoned them when a prayer is not answered the way they want it to be, like when a person dies whom they had been praying for, or when a country is destroyed by an earthquake. “God, where are You then?”

Hebrews 13:8 (NIV) gives us an answer. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” He will never change. He is a God of love, but also who is in control over all situations. Sure, it is easy to praise God when our prayers are answered the way we want, but praising Him in the midst of storms and trials is another thing all together. I, personally, do not have the answers as to why God does what He does when He chooses to do it, but I do my best to lean on these verses and live them out. When we trust in Him fully, and not ourselves, we will see more clearly who He is and why He does what He does.

“God, where are You?” I don’t like to put words in God’s mouth, but based on Scripture, I like to believe He would answer this way: “I am right where I have always been. Always with you, always listening to you, always wanting you to come closer to Me. I am right here. Let’s work this out together.”