Job 23:1-3, 8-9 (KJV)
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.
3 Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:
9 On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:
Job was tested more than probably any other person in history and he makes his complaints saying he could not find God. He goes forward, backward, left and right but cannot find God. We hear some similar complaints today from those who complain about the school shootings or those of the past when the terrorists attacked in September 11, 2001. They say, “Where was God?” Are we so stupid and ignorant of what we have done and fostered that we should ask such an idiotic question? We have eliminated prayer and the Bible from our schools. We have eliminated a show of nativity scenes and any mention of Jesus or God – unless it is a false god. We have taken down His Ten Commandments and then we have the audacity to ask, “Where was God?” Can we spit in God’s face, slap Him across the face, vilify His name and His Son, Jesus and not expect to reap the consequences of our actions? Have we become so foolish that we think we knew more than God and we can decide what is right and wrong about morality and run roughshod over His commands?
God was there
He was there with Irma Garcia. Irma, a teacher at Robb Elementary, pushed students on the floor then use her body to shield them. God was there and gave her courage to use her body to protect those children.
God was there with Amerie Gaza. Two weeks before at her tenth birthday her parents gifted her with a phone which she used to call authorities during the shooting. God was there when she died trying to save her classmates.
God was there with Angel Garza, an EMT, who responded to the shootings. While attending a little girl, she related that her best friend was killed. When he asked her name the little girl named Angel’s daughter – God was there.
God was there with Xavier Lopez. Just hours before the 10-year-old was lauded at an honor roll ceremony. God was with Xavier as he held the hand of a dying student giving comfort, just prior to breathing his last breath.
God is there but not in the capacity that we want; not because He does not want to, but because we have limited Him. The psalmist said Israel turned their backs and tempted God and limited the Holy One. Are we exempted from the same results when we have not simply turned our backs on God but thrust Him out of our schools, public life and even our private lives? That is a rhetorical question with the obvious answer – NO.