Where Is God?

          Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”  even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)

          And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

          Today’s passage is one of the sort we need to focus on a lot more during these crises. It’s fairly common to hear people ask, “Where was/is God when bad things happen(ed)?” And this passage tells us that He’s right there. Even if we try to get away from Him, we can’t.

           Today’s second passage is a promise that God will meet all our needs according to the richest of his glory in Christ Jesus. “So, why isn’t God doing something about the Wuhan Virus? People are dying!”

          The problem is that people have expectations about what it means for God to be “right here” and for God to meet all our needs. If you don’t have the virus, and none of your family has it then God is meeting your current needs with regard to the virus. If you do catch it, if you are one of the vast majority who has few or mild symptoms, God has met your need. Your burden is not heavier than you can bear. If you are one of the minority who get a nasty viral response, for most people in the country, the hospitals are not overwhelmed, so you can get the treatment you need. And if you are one of the tiny minority who dies, 2100 years ago, Jesus died on the cross to meet your need for a savior. If you are still in need of a savior when you die, it’s likely that at some point you’ve had the opportunity to accept His provision for that need and rejected it. If you are one of the tiny minority who dies, and you’re a Christian, He’s met that need for a savior, and you are welcomed into the far better, disease-free place that you have sought.

          This analysis follows for all our supposed needs. Thirst, there is the question of whether or not they are actually needs. Often, we think they are. In the Dallas Willard book I’m reading, he writes about Paul having experienced the sinking of the ship he was on more than once. He described a conversation in which someone mentioned Paul’s need for a ship, and Paul responds, “Well, no, a ship would be nice, but I don’t need it at the moment.” Death would be as acceptable a provision to his needs as a ship.

          I’m not as without needs as Paul was. There are things I think I need, but I can’t possibly count the number of times I didn’t get the thing I thought I needed, and life went on. Other times, when I’ve needed something, I’ve gone and gotten it. That’s God’s provision, too.

           One last thing about this whole idea of God meeting our needs. Usually, we say we need something and look at this passage as a promise that we’ll get the thing. God will supply all our needs, after all. But another way to look at this verse is to say that God is all we actually need, so in providing Himself, He’s meeting our needs. It’s like when Abram told Isaac, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.” (Genesis 22:8) God himself will provide all our needs.