Chapter Nine
GOD IS DEEPLY CONCERNED AND INVOLVED
We have a tendency to feel that God is not involved or paying attention when bad things happen in our lives. Where is He when; a loved one dies, a storm destroys our home, illness strikes, or my job disappears when the company fails? Where is He when my prayers seem to go unanswered for years? Where is He when I feel so discouraged and beaten? Where is He?
Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. 30 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. 31 So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows. Matt 10:29-31; NLT (italics mine).
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be. Ps 139:13-16; NIV (italics mine).
Consider the words of Jesus as he looked at Jerusalem knowing full well they rejected Him and would kill Him within a few days.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem , you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! Luke 13:34-35; NIV (italics mine).
Jesus is always willing to accept us regardless of our problems and He is always willing to help, but we must ask and be willing to allow Him to solve our problems His way and at the time of His choosing.
When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Matt. 8:1-3; NIV (italics mine).
After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" ( which means, "Be opened!"). 35 At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. Mark 7:33-35; NIV (italics mine).
Consider how Jesus reacted when He heard that His dear friend Lazarus was very ill.
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus . 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. John 11:5-6; NIV (italics mine).
So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." John 11:14-15; NIV (italics mine).
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus , come out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go." 11:43-44; NIV (italics mine).
Scripture is clear that the problem is never that God isn’t there, or that He is unaware of our circumstances. The real problem is that we are unaware of His presence and involvement. We need to submit to His will and allow ourselves to be drawn closer to Him!