Where is God ?

This morning at church was a very interesting time for me. We are in the midst of a series call F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions). Today's sermon was a two pointed question. The questions were the following:

- Why do bad things happen to good people ?
- Where is God when I hurt ?

With everything that is going on with Stacey and our family, this message hit home. I am not sure if I am really asking those questions though. I think that with all the junk that we have dealt with over the last 10 years, I seem to just "ride the wave".

However, what occurred at church today did make me go ... hmmmmmmm

There were a few individuals that were sitting around me that have had a rough week as well. There was a young lady who just lost her grandpa suddenly to death. There was a young man who came home for two weeks from Iraq because his duty has got extended. There was an older gentlemen whose mom just got killed in a car accident.

This is just a few people that were sitting around me that I know about. This got me thinking. We had 550 +/- individuals today that heard the message. Each individual there has a story .. they have life experiences that they are bringing to the table; some we know and some we do not know. We never know what we say and "touch a nerve" It may be good, it may be bad.

The message. It did not really give an answer. Part of that is because there may not be an answer but there were two points that stood out to me.

In the original Hebrew language, the wording of scripture is the following; life is like a puff of air. The second is one of the shortest scriptures in the bible - Jesus wept.

So, in the scheme of things, what occurring to us is very small ( even though it is not small to us ). But, God is there and He is weeping with you over what is occurring.

During SS time, I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to the young lady who 'lost' her grandpa this past weekend. She has amazing faith, a strong family and her grandpa sounded like he was unbelieveable. Today was another sweet lesson in the importance of listening and sharing our stories. She shared hers and I shared mine
( Stacey ).

We, as a church, need to do this more. We need to take time and get to know people, know their stories and know how their life is intertwined in God's story.

For our family, i really do not know what is going to happen or occur. I do know that we have numerous individuals that love us and we have a God who has created us and I believe that we have a compassionate Heavenly Father that is shedding tears over the struggles that we are encountering.

My eyes and ears need to be opened so I can see those who are struggling and for me to also extend the hand of help that has been extended to us.