Where Is God When You Need Him?

Let me ask you this, where was God when Adam and Eve sinned?

God was with Adam and Eve when everything was fresh and new and good.  He was with them when they were at their worst, when they disobeyed Him and believed Him to be a liar.   God didn’t distance Himself from them even in their sin.  When God kicked them out of the Garden of Eden, He went with them (Genesis 3-4 NRSV).

As God was with Adam and Eve at the beginning, God will be with us at the conclusion of the end of this age, when He brings to us a new heaven and earth (Rev. 21:1-3 NRSV). He will set up camp right in our midst.  God has been with us from the beginning and He’ll be with us at the end and beyond, into infinity.

God desires to be with us, and He wants us to know this.  Why else would He refer to His son as God with us?  Why would that son stress that when he had to ascend to heaven, he would send someone in his stead, God the Spirit (John 14:16-20 NRSV).  At no point has God ever left us alone.

The Triune God (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit) has always chosen to be with us.  He’s with us because He has nothing better to do.  You can interpret that statement different ways. He’s with us not because he has some free time on his hands. He’s with us not because He has nothing else to do.  He’s with us because we are His priority (Ephesians 1:3-6 NRSV).  Before we were created God chose to invest in us.  God has shown us this time and time again in the Bible. He is in our midst.  He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6 NRSV).

What if you don’t feel that God is with you? Does that mean He isn’t? Jesus didn’t feel God’s presence at his lowest point when he was on the cross.  He’d taken on the sins of the world, and he felt abandoned (Matthew 27:46 NRSV).  God didn’t abandon His precious son, but maybe our sin heaped on his shoulders made him feel that way.  Maybe sin makes us feel that way too.  We may feel estranged because of our sin, but we know that absolutely nothing separates us from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39 NRSV).

Don’t let your feelings override your faith.  Even if you don’t feel God’s presence, He is with you.

Where is God when you need Him?  Whether you’re holding your sick child’s hand at his bedside or seeking higher ground as a storm surge is on your heels, or sitting on your cot in prison, God is with you.  He’s right where you are (Psalm 139:7-10 NRSV).  That’s where He is when you need Him.

Sondra Peters