Was He there .....?

WAS HE THERE …… ?

There is a hymn that speaks of the crucifixion of Jesus that says “Where you there” …… (when they crucified my Lord)?

This time I would like to contemplate the question “Was he there ….. ?

Was he there when ….. ?

Was he there when my friends forsook me in what I know was God’s calling for me?

Was he there when I lost my job shortly after buying a house?

Was he there when my hopes and dreams for financial independence evaporated when the value of the stock market evaporated.

Was he there when I was dismissed as a Sunday school teacher?

Was he there when I failed him time after time .

Was he there when my efforts to live for him just got nowhere at all? Wasn’t he supposed to help me?

Was he there when my prayers seem to go nowhere, no matter how I tried to get through to God?

Was he there when our child was so ill, we feared we would loose him?

The list goes on, those of us who have experienced life for any time at all, know the question and we have no difficulty in adding our own challenges as well.

Often, when we are in these valleys of despair he doesn’t seem to be anywhere’s near.

We would then like to have shouted at him: Where are you now that I need you?

David the Psalmist knew about this, in Psalm 69 he says, Save me O God, for the waters are come unto my soul, I am sinking deeper into the mire, the floods overflow me.

The answer to all these questions is a profound YES, he WAS there.

Our God is a compassionate Father who is there with us in our suffering, even when we do not sense his presence at all.

Compassion means to “suffer with”, he not only sees our pain, he feels it as well.

He is not a God who stands on a windswept beach waiting for the storm to cast the ship that is our life on that shore so that he might receive and comfort us.

He is in the ship with us and he will see to it that we land safely, always.

Isaiah 41: 10 and 13 : Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. For I, the Lord your God will hold your right hand, saying to you: Fear not, I will help you.

Miles Stanford in his book “Steps to spiritual growth” comments that the believer who is going through struggle and failure is the Christian who is being carefully and lovingly handled by his Lord in a very personal way.

He is being taken through the experience of self-revelation and into death (of self); the only basis upon which to know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, Phil.3:10.

He was there when Abraham took Hagar to be his wife in order to produce offspring.

He was there when Jacob had to flee for his life after betraying his father and his brother.

He was there when Joseph found himself at the bottom of a dry well, surrounded by brothers who wished to be rid of him.

He was there when Moses had to flee from Egypt to preserve his life.

He was there when Joshua failed to consult the Lord and 36 good men lost their life in a failed battle.

He was there when king Saul sought to kill David, who at one point knew that his death might be imminent. He said there is but one step between me and death.

He was there in the fiery oven with the three friends of Daniel.

He was there …….

He will be there for you and me, always. Whether we do good or fail (again), he will be there.

He will be there, carefully and lovingly handling you in a very personal way …..

He is there …… . Is he there? Is he there for me, when I need him?

Often his presence is suppressed by our pre-occupation. Pre-occupation with the circumstances we find ourselves involved in.

The problems that we face overwhelm us and all we can see is the problem(s) and how could God allow this to happen. How could a loving God be in all this??

Often his presence is suppressed by heresies we have been taught or traditions that are falsehoods.

Many Christians believe that God is present only inside church buildings.

Others believe that God will only look after those people who look after him (faithfully serving him and who tithe at least 10% of their income).

He is there ….. , regardless whether we sense it or not.

None of us deserve his presence, but he is there, always, just the same.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, Hebr. 11:1.

When he seems far away, all we have left is faith, faith, the evidence of things not seen.

It is to teach us that he is there, whether we sense it or not. He promised, he will do it, that is what we need to learn to remember and live by.

The prophet Elijah experienced a great spiritual victory on Mount Carmel in I Kings 18.

Then the queen threatened his life and Elijah fled all the way to the Sinai desert.

In many days he did not hear from God and it depressed him greatly and he wished to die, just get it over with. Victory for God, so what? The queen was still in power.

But God, who was there all the time, had different plans for him. Plans that he could not have thought of in his wildest dreams, I Kings 19:15 and 16.

Our Father’s purpose for us is that we would believe his continuous presence, regardless of our feelings. For that to become a reality for you and me it is necessary that there are times when our feelings are put on hold and all we have is God’s promise.

His presence is our peace, for now and for all eternity.

To close a quote from Habakkuk 3:17-19.

Even though the fig tree has no buds, the vines bear no harvest, the olive crop fails, the orchards yield no food, the fold is bereft of its flock, and there are no cattle in the stalls.

Even so shall I exult in the Lord and rejoice in the God who saves me. The Lord God is my strength; he makes me as sure-footed as a hind and sets my feet on high places.

St. Thomas, April 2010. Simon VanderKooy.