Skip to main content

Near...

             “Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away?”

“Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord.

“Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:23-24)

 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest. (Psalm 22:1-2)

 

 Where is God? I’m not asking where God was when something bad happened. I’m asking where God is now - in your life, in mine, in the lives of our leaders, etc. Where is God? I’m not asking for the good Sunday School answer, which is “God is everywhere. He’s omnipresent.”

In Scripture, there are two basic answers that God declares to be wrong. The first is that He’s not here. He doesn’t see what is happening. He doesn’t know what we’ve done (and we’re not going to tell Him!) The second is that “He’s not there.” He can’t do anything about those people over there. Today’s passage deals more with the latter. The Jews in Jeremiah’s day were enslaved to the north instead of in Egypt, and the Jews seemed to have believed that God could not, or would not, do anything about it. Perhaps they had succumbed to the popular belief that gods were basically local entities. Your god could help you within this geographic area, but there were other gods if you stepped over that line. Some were more powerful than others, but if your people were taken away to another land, it’s possible that the other god might prove more powerful than yours. Of course, they wouldn’t say that aloud.

We’re probably in the same boat. We know what we are supposed to say, but that’s not always the way we feel or what we really think. Even David asks God where He is in the psalm right before he sings of God as a shepherd who provides all that he needs. In the Sixteenth Century, St. John of the Cross wrote of “the dark night of the soul” in which God seems to be hiding.

I’m not facing a dark night, but at the same time, God doesn’t show up when, where, how, or why I want Him to. If He did, I would be His god. That means that God frequently feels far away. There are times when He feels near, when I hear His voice or discover a present.

I’m reminded of an old “Native American” story about boys being blindfolded and left in the forest overnight, sitting on a tree to prove their bravery and manhood. In the morning, they remove their blindfolds to discover that their father had been sitting with them all night, keeping them safe. I think sometimes, that’s how we are - blind and sitting in a forest, thinking we’re alone when we’re not.

At the same time, I think the question of God’s location is an important one to ask, especially if we use it as a way to explore our own thinking. Why do we think God is far away? What does that reason say about our thinking? Why do we think He’s near? What does that say about our thinking? Is this an area where we need to change? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more