Where was God?

Where was God?

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:20

Where was God during the Boston Marathon last year?  I've seen that question asked over and over.  Susan Stamper Brown said the following on April 16, 2013, " instead of focusing on all the evil which seems to permeate every crack and crevice of this planet, we must look for the goodness around us. Like in the marathon runners who ran through the smoke and risked their lives to help the injured and others who crossed the finish line and continued running to the hospital to donate blood for the victims. Where was God? He showed up in the form of first responders and everyday bystanders who applied makeshift tourniquets, carried victims, or simply prayed.  God gets it. He understands our hurts. He feels our pain, empathizes with us in our grief, and hears our cries because He knows what it feels like to watch a loved one die. He's been there. So he cries along with us, reminding us along the way to breathe in... and breathe out... as we wait for history to finish the last pages of the story. Someday, we will look back at this brief moment we called life... and exceptionally bad days like Monday in Boston will somehow make sense...in light of eternity."

While we will never have the answers to all Life's questions, like the one asked so many times that fateful Monday in 2013, we can have peace and rest in Life's uncertainties by placing our trust in Jesus.  "We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?  Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death?"  Romans 8:28, 35.  In the midst of your questions, remember that it's not always as important to receive answers from Christ as it is to trust Christ and receive peace.  Trust that God is working all things for your good and that nothing in this world can ever separate us from the love of God.  Let me repeat that....NOTHING can separate us from the Christ's love.   That means you.  "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither heighth nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39

If nothing can separate us from Christ, there's nothing in the world to fear.  James 4:14 says that we, "are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."  So, enjoy today.  Go for a run and thank God for His presence in your life.  Today is a gift from God.  How you use it is your gift to Him. And, in the words of Mother Theresa-Yesterday has gone, tomorrow has not come, we have only today.  Let us begin. 

Heavenly Father, thank you for the promise of always being with us.  Knowing that nothing can ever separate us from your Love makes life bearable in the hard times.  Thank you for your presence, comfort and peace in the midst of our trials.  In your precious name we pray, Amen.  

Happy Running!!!