Where Is God in All This?

“Never make the mistake of thinking that, because God doesn’t seem to be involved, He doesn’t care about you or your situation.”

Horatio Spafford was a successful lawyer and real estate investor in Chicago when the Great Chicago Fire happened in 1871. He would lose his fortune, and just a few months later his four daughters would drown in a tragic ship collision while crossing the Atlantic Ocean. When his wife Anna reached England, she sent her husband a telegram that read: “Saved alone. What shall I do?”

Have you ever faced circumstances that made you turn to God in despair? “Where are You in this?” we ask. “What shall I do next?” Joseph certainly experienced those moments. When he was just 17, his jealous older brothers sold him into slavery (Gen. 37:28). After a time of success in Egypt, he was sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit (39:20). Where was God in those moments? On the surface it might seem that Joseph’s life was one misfortune after another. But Scripture tells us that God had a plan. He would use Joseph’s misfortune to save many from famine, and (ultimately) to preserve the line of the Messiah (45:5–7). No matter how bad life might have seemed at the time, “the Lord was with Joseph” (39:2).

Never make the mistake of thinking that, because God doesn’t seem to be involved, He doesn’t care about you or your situation. God is always involved behind the scenes and His presence is readily available. Psalm 145:18 says, “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” There is something powerful knowing we have a God who goes through everything with us. He is in our valleys with us! Though His timing may not always be in sync with our timing, we can take comfort that He knows our past, present, and future.

After receiving his wife’s telegram, Horatio set sail. During the voyage, the captain pointed out the location where his family had perished. A devout Christian, Horatio turned to the hope he had in Jesus and rushed to his room to pen the words to one of the best loved poems, turned hymn, “It is Well with My Soul.” In fact, it was sung as a new hymn at Dwight L. Moody’s evangelistic crusades.

Friend, we may not know what the last chapter is, but God does. He is a master at adding to the story when we think it’s over.