Where is God when life gets tough? It’s a question that I’m sure we have all asked at one time or another. When life throws us a real curve ball, it can feel like God is nowhere to be found and we are just left to struggle on our own…Where is God when life gets tough?

There are so many passages in the Bible that speak into that question, but at St James we looked at what Psalm 27 has to say. It’s a reflection on how God protects us and guards us even in the most difficult times of life, and how we can practically seek God out when life is tough.

When David wrote this Psalm, he was going through a tough time. There was chaos and disorder in his world; he was in danger physically, emotionally and spiritually. In the natural course of things, he didn’t feel close to God. So he had to be proactive and focus on what he knew about God, rather than how he felt. It wouldn’t have been any easier for him to do that than it is for any of us when we are struggling in life. But making the determined effort was worth it to preserve and strengthen his faith. The Psalm he wrote is one of confidence, written even in the midst of life’s bitter struggles.

So how do we find God when life is tough? Well to begin with, as David did, we need to focus on what we know about God, not how we feel. It’s about trusting in what we know, not trusting our emotions which we all known can vary so much.

There have been times in my life when I have felt really close to God. Sometimes in big worship events, I have found real intimacy with God. In a homegroup, I was overwhelmed with the power of God’s calling to give all of my life to Him, not just the bits that I wanted to offer. When I was ordained, God reminded me of His call through Scripture. During January, I have seen God’s fingerprints all over really tough situations. But, I have also lived through my perceived sense of the absence of God when I was in the depths of struggles. When people I love have died. When I have been ill, or have watched others suffer. We don’t always live on a spiritual high. There have been times that I haven’t been able to pray and so looking back I am so grateful for faithful friends who prayed for me.

If my faith relied on my feelings, then my faith would never really grow at all. Instead, as we all have, I have a story, a personal story, in which I have seen the fingerprints of God in my life, sometimes in quite random ways and so I know that he has been with me even in the tough times. I might not be able to explain it, but I know that I know that I know. I have surrounded myself with people of faith and listened to their own life-stories and so I know that God has been active in their lives. I have tried to soak myself in the Bible stories and Christian music based on the word of God and learnt from them and so I know that God has been active throughout history.

All of this doesn’t stop the tough times happening, but when they do get tough, we can remind ourselves to what we know rather than rely on how we feel. Even when the back of the tapestry looks messy and full of knots, God makes a beautiful picture on the other side.

So if life is messy and tough for you at the moment, maybe take a look at Psalm 27 or one of the other psalms as they cover a whole host of situations and emotions, but God is constant and faithful throughout….even if we can’t feel that.

Blessings, Rev Vikki