God, where are you?

Do you ever look at a situation and think, "God, where are you in all of this?"  

At church we have been going through a sermon series titled 'Major lessons from minor guys' where we have had a look at some of the minor prophets of the bible.  Last Sunday we looked at Habakkuk and found that he was struggling to see God in the chaos around him.  As it was the youth lead service, I worked with some of the young people at church and we did a sort of 'modern day twist' on the book of Habakkuk and looked at how we can apply what we learn from him today...

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The book of Habakkuk begins as the prophet looks at the chaos in his nation and he brings it to God, asking what he will do about it.  As the book continues, a dialogue is formed between Habakkuk and God.  God reassures him that he has a plan and he is going to act, though it may require some patience from Habakkuk.  Habakkuk then praises God and puts his trust in him.  We decided to look at how Habakkuk's story is still relevant today, so the first thing we did was discuss what sort of situations we have encountered in which it was difficult to see God, or to trust that he really had a plan.  Lots of different topics came up, ranging from world poverty, illness and war to the 'mean' attitudes and bullying seen in our nation today.  We chose one topic to focus on in particular; War and Conflict.  We wrote the title on a sheet of paper and thought about all the war that we see happening in the world.  Then using Habakkuk and a passage from Philippians as guidance, we thought about how we can talk to God about such a difficult topic in healthy way, not just complaining about it, but seeking God in it, showing him that we still trust him and can still praise him even when facing such darkness.

"Always be full of joy in the Lord.  I say it again - rejoice!
 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do.
 Remember, the Lord is coming soon.
 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
If you do this, you will experience God's peace,
which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.  
His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:4-7

When looking at the difficult situations we reminded ourselves to take into consideration the key points from the above passage:

• Praise God
• Thank God
• Tell him what you need

​It seemed easy enough to tell God what we need...but how could we praise or thank God when considering the problem of war?  It was difficult at first but as we thought about it we realised that there are still things to praise and thank him for,even in these circumstances. Some of the prayers the young people came up with included thanking him for the medical staff who are available to treat war victims, thanking him that although there is war in the world there is also peace and that we live in a country where we experience safety, we also praised him because although in this world we have war and trouble, we have faith that Jesus has overcome the world and has victory over death and Satan.

After training ourselves to find God and focus on him even through the chaos, we wrote a little sketch which was like a sort of 'modern twist' on Habakkuk.  We made a large poster (below) and displayed it across the back of the stage. 

Reader one:
God, where are you?
I look around me and I see chaos everywhere.
Have you seen the war and conflict going on in the world?
Do you care about how people abuse substances like drugs and alcohol?
Have you seen the poverty?  The people who have no food or homes?
What about all the pain and disease that people are suffering?
What about the people who get bullied at school or in the work place?  Who comforts them?
God, where are you in all of this?

Reader two enters stage and peels some black letters off the banner, revealing the word 'here' in red.
He then goes on to read:

Reader two:
God is here, right in the middle of it all.  Sometimes when we look around us it can be hard to believe that God is in control.  Maybe he seems quiet or distant and we wonder if he really cares or if we can really trust him.  The answer to both these questions is 'yes'.
We know we he cares because in 1 Peter 5:7 it says: "Give all your worries and cares to God because he cares about what happens to you."
We know that we can trust him because through the bible Jesus tells us "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world."
Just like Habakkuk, we can bring our concerns to God and trust that he has a plan.

End.

As the sketch finished we then invited the church to put into practice praying about difficult circumstances using the template found in Philippians and Habakkuk.  We prayed for the persecuted church and for the difficult things we see around us in our nation, not only telling God about the troubles, but praising him, thanking him and telling him what we need.  So maybe the next time you face a difficult situation you will be able to  follow these steps and it will help you to keep perspective on how mighty, powerful and caring God is.  If you ever find yourself asking "God, where are you in all this?"  remember he's right here, in the middle of it all.