Where was God?

<sup>For the past week I have watched as our nation has taken up armor against God and for God. I see discussion about weapons, this law and that law, abortion and outrage. I see posts about God not being allowed in schools and therefore that was why He didn’t stop what was done. I read, sadly, a posting by a dear mother in the trenches daily with a mentally ill child, pleading for us to take notice of the fact that mental illness is ignored and then these events occur. She is right. Personally, I know of some who also deal with mental illness with family members and try as they might to get good help, they just cannot find anyone to care enough to help the children.

While I fully agree that we need help from government, schools, doctors, psychologists and even our elders and ministers, that is not what has prompted me to write. What has prompted me to write is the question about; ‘where was God?’ It’s interesting really, this question. What I see in this question isn’t a question about where was God so much as it is being used as a political platform to try and prove a point. 

On one side of the issue is the belief that there is no God and therefore He doesn’t belong in school. On the other side of the issue is that there IS a God and HE most definitely belongs in school but isn’t allowed to be there. The problem with both of these arguments in regards to the tragedy that occurred is that both sides show a lack of faith.

What?!? I’m sure those of you reading this who most definitely believe in God are thinking… ‘How can she possibly think that I don’t have faith in God.’ 
Those who don’t are most likely thinking ‘well duh.’  Yet, it’s God who get’s blamed first whenever tragedy occurs and it’s scripture that is turned to and read whenever comfort is sought.</sup> 

What I mean is that I have faith that God can’t be prevented from being in schools by the mere laws of man. No government has any authority over the reign of God. In fact, quite the opposite. 

So, why do I believe this? Why am I so sure that He is everywhere? Where can one go away from the presence of God? King David of the Israelites answered that quite nicely.

^{Psalm 139:7-12}
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

He is the God who knows me, the God who created me, and you as well. He is the God who created and sustains by His own will this earth on which we live and the life by which we live on it. He created it all. He is everywhere. It’s a simple concept. But so hard to grasp.
So the next question becomes… Where was He on that day? I believe with all of my heart, with every ounce of faith that is in me, that He was there. He sent His angels there, His ministering Spirits were there, right beside those little children. Those angels, “their angels” always see the face of God. 

Matthew 18:10  “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” 

God is everywhere. He cannot be contained. He was in Ohio, and Washington. He was in Africa and Colorado. He was in Hawaii and Japan. He was there in Newtown Connecticut and He was in Sandyhook Elementary. He was and is everywhere. I know, I know. Our human nature has a very hard time accepting or understanding that. 
 ^{Man can write laws that claim to protect children from many things. Man can write laws that attempt to prevent God from being in ‘state’ places. But, man cannot prevent God from going there. Man cannot keep God from the hearts of the people that God has created. Jesus said, that we must become like a little child, in order to enter God’s kingdom. Why? Because a child’s heart is humble enough to let God in. Matthew 10:3,4}

So then comes the question that most people even those who claim to not believe demands an answer.”Why didn’t He not stop it?” That is a very hard question to answer. I wish I could say just the right words. I wish I could give just the right response to answer this big question. Again, I think it comes down to faith. Faith that God is greater than this horrible act, committed by one young and most likely mentally ill man. It comes to the faith that God created man and could have made him to only worship Him, only obey Him and only bow down to His will.  But then, we wouldn’t have free will. 

We would not have the choice to choose for ourselves how we want to live our lives. He could have stopped Cain from murdering Abel. He could have stopped Joseph’s brothers from selling him into slavery. He could have stopped the Egyptians from using His people as slaves. He could have prevented David from committing adultery with Bathsheba and then having her husband killed. He could have sent 10 legions of angels to stop the torture and murder of His own precious son. But, instead He lovingly gives man FREE WILL. And then He graciously sent His Son to be a light to us in this dark world. 

I don’t have all the answers for why such horrible things occur. I don’t know why some people suffer with mental illness and others don’t. I don’t know why some people hate others so much that murder is in their hearts. But I do know that it wasn’t God who caused this to happen. I do know that there is both good and evil in this world. I also know that on that day. Both were present in Sandyhook Elementary. Jesus said,
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”  
There were teachers there that day, who laid down their lives protecting the wee ones.  They are the very example of the love that Christ was referring to. 

So as the people rage, as our government tries to legislate control over man’s Free Will. Let us remember that they cannot legislate control over God and God gives man free will. 

He Is, He Was and He is to Come.  Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

My heart mourns at the tragedy and I fervently pray for comfort for those who are affected personally. I pray… because I believe not only that He is but that He is all able and all powerful and everywhere.