Where is God?

And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because
they tested the LORD saying, ?Is the LORD among us or not?? Exodus 17:7

This past week in our prayer group,Georgina and I asked for prayers for our families in Houston, and my nephew in Galveston, Texas. Our prayers were answered. Also this week, we watched an aircraft circle Los Angeles waiting to land because the nose wheel had turned at ninety degrees and would not retract. I along with millions watched on TV in the safety of home as the plane managed a safe landing. I prayed for them too, I am sure along with millions of others. God answered those prayers.

But what about all the others who were not so fortunate? Did God love Houston better than New Orleans, or south Texas better than the gulf coast of Mississippi?
Or better than any others who lost their lives in mishaps.
Why does God seem to respond to one request, and seemingly not to another?

Of course you know that when you ask the "why" question, you are asking the wrong question. It's natural for us to ask "why" and I suppose we will have our answers one day. Likely in a form we had never thought of.
But in this world, asking "why did something bad happen to this one and not to that one?" is a futile question.
I don't know about you, but I am more inclined to ask, not why I suffer, but why I don't suffer more.
Maybe that's just my disposition.

But the question in those occasions that does make sense is to ask, "where is God in this?"
Or "how do I see God at work even in the sorrows of life?"
Sometimes we don't, at least not at first. Then we can look back in faith and see how God was at work.

I awoke early yesterday morning and got up to see the sun rise. I love watching as it comes up over the water.
Out on the water just off the Victoria waterfront was a cruise ship at dawn, silhouetted against the golden sky of a new day.
It was not moving fast, in fact, at the bow there was no discernible wave, but at the stern was the unmistakable trail of its wake. It had made a wide turn and was headed into port. Only by seeing where it had been could you see its movement.
It's sometimes that way with God's presence in our lives. Its only as we look at where we have been that we can see that God has been at work.

Moses has led the people for a number of weeks. Getting used to depending on God was not something they had mastered. They were very new at it and I suppose like us, were still missing the security of predictable life. Not a good life, but a predictable one. And now they are having to get used to living with the uncertainty of faith.

Lets admit it,

Living in faith often feels uncertain.

They are in the wilderness and the question that is on their lips is "where is God in this."
Same question, but a somewhat different intent. Or is it so different?

Moses has led them and God has fed them where they would otherwise have no food. Now I can imagine that must have felt extremely precarious and called on a lot of trust. You have probably been in a small group experiment, or seen one where as an act of faith one person stands with closed eyes and falls backward into the waiting arms of someone positioned behind and out of sight. It's a scary moment. Will I fall? What if there is no one there to catch me?

And the people had little history to get used the notion of God's faithfulness. What if God runs out on them in the wilderness?
They would be done for.
I don't suppose you have ever wondered that.

"What if God is not there?"
You put out your resume for a job you believe the Spirit is leading you toward. But what if God is not in it?
You stand at the front of a church and pledge your vows to someone who you really don't know that well.
Now THAT is a scary moment. You were sure this is it.
But what if God is not in this relationship? What then?

You sit by the bedside of someone you love.
You pray as hard as you can hoping that you are being heard.
But what if God is not hearing you?

What if what you have spent your life and time in turns out not to be what you thought it was?
What if God is not in it?

You can understand their wanting to live their lives in certainty, not depending day after day on some miracle from God.
Truthfully, I think having to live that way would probably drive most people a little funny.
We have taps we can turn on, supermarkets with food, banks that have money, and so on.
What if we had none of that. What if even with all our community resources, we could not on our own produce the things of our own security, but had to depend like babes on being fed?
And being fed by someone you could not see.
I think we would get cranky too.
Give me certainty. I can live with that. It may not be much, but I understand it.

And so one day they are in the wilderness and there is no water.
They start to grumble at Moses and even threaten to stone him.

Now before we get too critical of them, think about it.
Their complaining is not because they have forgotten about last week's miracle.
"Oh was that GOD who led us through sea?... why didn't you tell us?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about the manna. Now that I think about it, sure God is pretty good after all."
They are not having recurring amnesia.

What's happening is they have had all their support systems removed and are being led not into more reliable circumstances, but into less certain places.
They come to a place with water. Does God let them settle there?
No. The cloud picks up and they have to move.
Does God lead them to a good agricultural valley? Not yet. Eventually, but not yet.

It's like every day you cross your arms, close your eyes and let yourself fall backward.
Day after day the same thing...fold your arms, close your eyes and fall over backwards.

And Moses is the only one they can identify as being responsible for this scary, unpredictable life. And there is no indication it is going to change. In fact they are heading away from food and water toward vast wilderness and unknown hazards.
And they start getting cranky.
Why

We read in Exodus 17:7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, ?Is the LORD among us or not??

God sent them water. He told Moses to strike a rock and out came water.
A miracle!
I think if it had been me, I would have been glad for the miracle, but I would have preferred a river, or even a pond.
You can go to sleep at night knowing the river will be there in the morning and that you will have water.
Waiting for Moses to strike a rock and having water gush out where there is none, sure its amazing.
But having to depend on that day after day, would be a bit wearing.
At least I think it would be.

Which is maybe why we prefer not to look too hard to see where God is at work around us.
I prefer a settled, and reliable life.
I can hold onto my faith, practice my beliefs and even grow in my faith and my love for God, when life is dependable.
But do not pull the supports out from under me.

But what happens when we ask those uncomfortable questions such as "why did God allow that?"
Or, how do I know that God is really leading me?
Then the ground I stand on isn't quite as solid as I thought it was.
I have a choice.
I can run for cover. Sometimes I do.
Then the Spirit coaxes me out and reminds me:

That a life of faith is really the only life worth living.

Because there is within me a yearning for something that is beyond what I can absolutely know and control.
There is that voice who says, "I have water that you have never heard of. It is living water and whoever drinks of my living water will never be thirsty. That person will have a source within that will not let you down."

Jesus says, "I promise. I will not abandon you."
And when we step out into the scary stuff of trusting, we find that He does not abandon us.
He is there with us. Sometimes like those people in the wilderness, we have our days.
We are tired, or stressed or maybe God just lets us sweat it out for a bit. Maybe to strengthen our faith.
And we ask, "I wonder....is God really in this?"
And we pray and ask, "Are you there, Lord?"

And eventually, we look back and see where we have come, like the wake of a ship and we are amazed at how God has been there with us. And we stop and we give thanks.
Just as we will do now.
Let's stop and give thanks for the ways that God has been there with us.
For the ways that we believe he will be there with us.
Let's pray:

Lord, we get crabby with you and you understand that.
But hear our prayer as we say thank you for all you have done.
You are the source of life in a wilderness. Without you we would be lost.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Amen

Preached September 24, 2005
Dr. Harold McNabb
West Shore Presbyterian Church
Victoria, British Columbia

Resources Consulted:

Brueggemann, Walter, The Old Testament; The Canon and Christian Imagination, Westminster Knox, 2003
Kaiser, Walter K, Exodus, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 1990
Ram, Bernard, His Way Out, A Fresh Look at Exodus. Regal Books, 1974