The woes of the stock market, the concerns over political unrest in the world, the anticipation of the next election and the whereabouts of Casey Anthony seemed to take a major backseat in the media and our minds this week as we dealt with more immediate and pressing concerns. Mother Nature refusing to be upstaged gained the center place of attention as she tossed up a 5.6 earthquake, a monstrous 600 mile wide hurricane and a few tornadoes for icing on the cake. Suddenly the normal dismal news fare didn’t seem quite as important as worries shifted from the economy, politics and terrorism to personal survival. It would seem that man-made calamity has nothing on natural catastrophic occurrences.

Where then is God in all of this? Why would a loving God allow such frightening things to assail us? These are the ever popular questions of the day offered up by those who want to question the actual existence of God or by those who have yet to grown close enough to Him to understand His ways. Our nature cries for answers and we are prone to find them on our own without any help from the One we dare to question. How about the truth? If you are tempted to ask where God is, you may be interested to know that He is right there in the middle of it all. He’s never far and always close by. If you could travel to the farthest planet you would be no further away from Him and yet no closer. His ways are not our ways (Is.55:8). Do not lean on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Be anxious for nothing (Phil.4:6). These are just a few verses that begin to reveal His nature and character. Wise men still seek Him. To truly find the answer to such questions we must seek Him, this is His desire. He can be found through His Word and in prayer. He is faithful. (1Cor.1:9).

The natural mind always wants God to change the circumstances. As we gain more knowledge of His person we will discover that He is more likely to change our perspective about things which will often lead us to change our circumstances or live above them. Many times the scripture tells us to “fear not”. The natural mind cannot cast off fear but through the supernatural power of His presence we can substitute faith for fear. Scripture speaks of the “peace that passes all understanding” (Phil.4:7). We can only get there by means that we do not truly understand, that’s why it is supernatural. The natural mind cannot understand things that are spiritual (1Cor.2:14).

The question therefore is not where is God? The question is where are we? The follow-up question is what can we control? If our worry and concern could truly impact any one particular circumstance, let’s say a hurricane, we still would not begin to posses the capacity to worry about all of life’s other concerns. Only God is “all-knowing” and able to deal with every circumstance known to mankind simultaneously. The secret to a joyful and healthy life on this earth is simply to place your trust in the one true God. He has provided the only way and that is faith in Jesus Christ. Only He can save us from ourselves and from the power of a fallen world. Neither man-made calamity nor the phenomenon of nature can separate us from His love for us. Just maybe He has allowed some of these circumstances to enter our world that He may gain our attention. Has he gained yours?