2: Where is He?
During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake they were terrified. “It’s a ghost” they said and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them “take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”
Matthew 14:25-27
The disciples must have gotten really scared when they saw Jesus walking on water. They didn’t recognize him and thought that he was a ghost. They must have been scared because they had never experienced such a thing and couldn’t understand it. They must have felt things were getting worse; first it was the ship being buffeted by the waves and now a ghost was walking on water. I am sure they began to wonder where Jesus was so that He could save them.
There had never been any problem Jesus didn’t solve- from stilling the storm, feeding four thousand people, driving out demons, healing the sick, making the lame walk and many other miracles. Some of the thoughts that might have gone through their minds were maybe if Jesus was here; he could still the storm and done something about the ghost! “They might have had one very important question on their mind, where was Jesus?”
I talked about a story in the earlier chapter of a question that a friend asked me; “Where is your God now?” I was shocked and couldn’t answer that question immediately because I had asked myself that question personally before. The truth was I felt alone during that time because I couldn’t believe it was all happening to me at once. I considered myself a strong Christian and somehow thought that it meant everything was going to be smooth, and if it wasn’t then something is wrong. I am sure we have all asked ourselves this question when things are going really bad especially if there aren’t signs it will get better. Where is God? Why is this happening to me if he is here? I found part of the answer to the question when I read a poem by Mary Stevenson called
“Footprints in the Sand.”
Footprints in the Sand
One night I dreamed I was walking
On the beach with the lord
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sky
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints
Other times there was one set of footprint
This bothered me because I noticed
That during the low periods of my life
When I was suffering from anguish sorrows or defeat
I could only see one set of footprints
So I said to the Lord,
You promised me Lord, that if I followed you
You would walk with me always
But I have noticed during the most trying
periods of my life there have only been one set of footprints in the sand
Why, when I needed you most
you have not been there for me?
The Lord replied, ‘the time when you have
seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you.
copyright © 1984 Mary Stevenson
The poem describes how a lot of Christians feel when we are going through some form of adversary. We believe that God is with us when everything is going well and wonder if he has abandoned us when we face adversaries. It is a common fact that most people only spend a few moments to pray when things are going well and seem to become prayer warriors when things are going bad. Some say it is because they don’t have much to pray about when everything is fine. I partly disagree because we believe that everything going great is a sign that God is with us and the opposite is a sign that God has abandoned us. We assume this because we tend cling to the idea that God would not allow any bad thing to happen to us if he is with us. You don’t spend hours writing emails, calling or texting someone who is always with you, because you don’t need a lot of effort to talk to them. You tend to make effort such as email, calls and texting to communicate with someone who is far away. We pray more or study our bible more often in troubled times because we believe that God has abandoned us.
The poem, “footprints in the sand” talked about Jesus response to the accusation that he/she was abandoned during their trial periods. Christ responded “the times when you have only seen one sets of footprints is when I carried you.” The response by Christ best describes what happens when Christians are going through trials. God is always with us and he is always there to guide us through those tough times. The author didn’t realize that there was no way he could have made through those troubled times on his own without God’s help. God loves us and is always with us no matter what happens even when we think he has abandoned us.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:16
David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.
1 Chronicle 28:20
Deuteronomy 31 reminds us that we should never be terrified or afraid because God is always with us. God also said He will never forsake nor abandon us. It should serve as an assurance to us because we have a God who never goes back on his promises. David said in psalm 23 that “though I walk through the darkest valley. I shall fear no evil, for you are with me. David had confidence that God was always with him even the time of trials. He knew that he served a God that would never leave him nor forsake him. David also said he would fear no evil, to show how much trust he has in God. We must have more confidence in the God we serve just like David did because He would never abandon us. Romans 8:31 states “If God is for us, who can be against us.” We serve a God who created heaven and earth. He can provide, heal, comfort and protect us. His is above all powers in heaven and on earth. We must learn to trust him and cling to the hope that he would always be there for us.
It is a general consensus that people including unbelievers seek God most during their time of troubles because they tend to pray, study their Bible and fast more but I disagree. They are mostly seeking solution to their problem instead of Him. The problem is we tend to seek a solution to our problems instead of seeking him, so we don’t see him. God doesn't need our prayer, fasting or bible study to rescue us; but he has asked us to do this because he wants a relationship with us. We are usually too distracted by the problem for us to notice his presence just like the disciples were too distracted to do the same in the boat. Jesus was walking towards them but none of them realized he was the one. The strong waves might have caused a fog which might have impaired their vision. It is easy for the problems in our life to cloud our judgments but it doesn't mean that God has deserted us.
Is God Real?
A question people ask apart from “Where is God?” is “Is God real? “When people are going through tough times, they don’t only question where God is but if He is real. One of my favorite verses to answer this question is:
Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that
Romans 1:19-20
God created heaven and earth in such a way that every person from every nation would know that there is a God. Scientist and atheist can deny God as much they want, but science can’t explain everything and they don’t realize that’s God’s way of telling us that he truly exists. The Bible said God has made himself known through his eternal power since the creation of the world so that no one would have an excuse for denying God’s existence. Scientists have claimed that the creation theory can’t be proved or disproved through a scientific method so they can’t scientifically prove it’s wrong. Evolution has questions that needs to be answered such as why is there only limited evidence of transitional fossils; which is what usually shows how species evolve and why elementary particles have masses and other traits that they do. Most scientists would admit that evolution doesn’t explain everything and they can’t tell you why, but the answer could be found in Roman 1:19-20; God created the universe in such a way that men won’t have excuse for denying his existence.
When I look at creation; I just can’t phantom how it could only come about by mistake. I know that my God is the one who created heaven earth to show how great his glory is. One of my favorite quotes from the TV series Smallville is “Do you ever think there is a reason why we were never given all the answers? To challenge us? No, to humble us.” I believe this quote summarizes why scientists can’t find all the answers.
The work of the Holy Spirit
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
John 14:16-18
We are not alone because we have God living in us in form of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is meant to guide, strengthen and teach so that we could be equipped for the work we are called to. Jesus knew we were going to face trials and also understood that we couldn’t overcome them on our own, so he sent us the Holy Spirit. Jesus describes him as the helper, counselor and spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit is all we need to guide us through life because he is God’s spirit. Jesus describes him as the one who knows God’s will and he will show us if we listen to him. The Holy Spirit is the one who differentiates us from the world because he is the only one who calls us and gives us the strength to follow Christ. A lot of Christians underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit by underestimating what God can do through them.
I remember the first time I thought of serving as summer missionary; I wasn’t sure I should go. I thought I would be a bad missionary because I was stubborn and didn’t like taking orders. I was willing to do anything except speak in public because I was an introvert. Since I was young, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but there two jobs I never wanted to do and they were being a teacher and a pastor (this was after I gave my life to Christ). I knew in my heart that God wanted me to serve that summer. One night while I was praying, God showed me a vision of a huge house with a door and when I entered it was full of everything I could ever imagine. God said the house represents the Holy Spirit because there was nothing He couldn’t provide, all I need to do is knock on the door, ask with faith and I will receive it. The summer was tough at first because I began to rely on my own strength, but God reminded me that I have forgotten to knock and ask. God did transform me in amazing ways that summer and thought me a lot of lesson that summer.
The Holy Spirit first thought me the importance of quiet time. During the first few weeks, I was focused on trying to serve people while I ignored my personal time with God. I began to feel discouraged, but the Holy Spirit began to remind me that I have been ignoring my personal quiet time. I began to cultivate the habit of spending a personal quiet time with God every morning. I began to see the fruit such as I became more enthusiastic about my assignment every day and was able to serve others better. The Holy Spirit reminded me that Christians were like an electric lamp; it can’t light up a room if it is not plugged to its power source. God is our power source and we have no light to shine if we aren't plugged to him. The Holy Spirit also helped me to overcome my fear of public speaking that summer. I didn't how it happened but I learnt that letting him speak through me was the key.
I don’t think most Christians realize how lucky we are to have the Holy Spirit living in us. It is the spirit that was in all the great prophets such as Elijah, Elisha, Moses, Samuel; that was also in great kings such as David, Solomon and Saul (before he disobeyed God). This is also the Spirit of Christ and the spirit that was in every one of the apostles as they did may great things. Romans 8:11 states “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. This is the Spirit of God living in us. There is nothing impossible for God to do, so there is nothing impossible for the Holy Spirit to do through us.
I remember talking to a friend about the topic of healing a few years ago; he said there wasn’t healing any longer. I asked how come the people the apostles prayed for got healed; he answered because they saw Jesus. I told him that the apostles were only able to heal people because they had the Holy Spirit. The prophets in the Old Testament were only able to do marvelous things because of the Holy Spirit. Moses said in Numbers 11, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” He knew made him different from the rest of the people was the Spirit of God. We now have this Spirit given to us freely when we accept Christ as our savior because Christ died for us. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the greatest gift after salvation that God has given to man.
He is what differentiates us from the rest world and there are many great things he could do through us. We must accept the Holy Spirit and not try to hinder His power.
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