God must be busy

We hear bad news all the time. Most of the bad news is distant and just part of the world we live in, but this past week some news touched me personally. On Saturday, a little girl named Hope was killed while riding her bike. On Sunday, I found out a childhood friend of mine had overdosed on drugs. Both funerals are this week.

I am not going to try and figure out why things like that happen, but I have been pondering the question: “Where is God in all of this?”

There’s a song on the radio by Brooks and Dunn. The chorus goes: “I know in the big picture I'm just a speck of sand and God's got better things to do than look out for one man. I know he's heard my prayers cause he hears everything, he just ain't answered back or he'd bring you back to me. God must be busy.”

I think God is busy, but it’s not because he’s off somewhere else. I think he’s constantly at work through the relationships that we have with each other. I mean, God only cares about three things right? (Thank you PB.) I think he’s in the embrace between two people. He’s in the phone calls that alert an entire network of people in just a few hours. He’s in the loving, angry, raw, honest letter written from a mother to her son that is read at his funeral. He’s in the simple fact that people who live busy separate lives will band together when something happens. If you want to find God, just look for his body.

“In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Romans 12:5)

This is true outside of tragic events as well. You know that feeling you get telling you to call that person…to buy that gift…to make time for that dinner…to help your friend fix that broken thing…or even to confront an issue that needs attention? … I think that’s part of God keeping busy.

Not that he needs us to do his job. God can certainly show his presence in other ways. But I can certainly attest to feeling God’s presence through the support of other people when I need them most. And I know that as I’m grieving with my friends this week, God is grieving too, and is giving me a chance to be his hands extended in their lives.


P.S. - On a completely different note….death is part of what makes life so precious and valuable. So embrace it. Love people while you can. And live the depth of your life as well as the breadth of it.