It is understandable that in our difficult moments of life we ask ourselves: Where is God? Is God with me?
When we go through painful problems and situations, it is easy to think that the reason for this is that somehow God has abandoned us.
This perception is commonly noticed in multiple bible characters as they went through moments of difficulty.
Many of the psalms David wrote, for example, have this theme.
Today I would like us to review an episode in which a group of people, when faced with a problem, asked themselves the same question.
Is God with us, or is he not?
The people of Israel, after their deliverance, roamed the wilderness, clearly seeing God’s presence.
At the same time, they were learning the lessons that would prepare them to enter the land God had promised them.
At a certain point, God directs them to camp in a place where there is no water.
Being there, they are thirsty.
They then complain to Moses that he intended to kill them out of thirst.
Finally, God provides water through a rock.
I want you to read with me an interesting fragment from the story that caught my attention when studying it:
And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Exodus 17:7
Faced with the problem of not having water in the middle of the desert, the reasoning of this people was that the cause of their problem or lack, was because God was not with them.
The reality was very different, God had been with them evidently all that time, and they knew it.
In fact, it was God Himself who had taken them there to teach them yet another lesson.
However, the problem they faced made them doubt that reality.
Today also, we deal with similar situations and ideas in our lives.
There is a belief, conscious or unconscious, that somehow, if God is with us, it is not possible to encounter problems in our lives.
The idea that if God is with me, everything should go perfectly well.
However, that is not the perspective that the Bible presents on every occasion.
God has promised to meet all our needs, yet He has never promised us a trouble-free life.
In most cases, the problems that come into our lives are the product of our own wrong decisions or someone else’s wrong decisions.
They are also the product of a nature and bodies impaired by sin.
At other times, these are circumstances in which God Himself is directing us in order to help us grow, mature, and improve.
If you’re going through problems in your life, don’t think God isn’t with you.
Better ask yourself if you have done your best to be and stay close to God and if so, trust and move on.
Ask God what he wants you to learn.
Thank him for one more opportunity to grow and improve.
Put your trust in him.
He has never left you and will never leave you.
No matter how difficult things get.
What do you think? Are you having problems in your life? What is your experience? Share in the comments.
A hug, God bless you.
