God Are You Out There?

In Don England's book, God Are You Really There, England writes about a
young man named Brian. Brian has just turned 18 and he is thinking about all
of his accomplishments in his short life. He's excited about his High School
graduation and is anxiously awaiting beginning his college career.

However, those thoughts of excitement turned to depression when he learned
that a very dear friend was hit by a drunk driver and now is in the hospital
with very little hope for survival.

Brian walks outside in the yard and looks to the heavens and asks, "God are
you really there?"

Harold Kushner, Jewish author, once asked and subsequently wrote a book
entitled, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." The reality is, bad
things do happen to good folks just because that's part of life. We might
call it the human predicament.

Sometimes those bad things cause us to question God, but sometimes when our
heart is not guarded it will cause us to question our faith in God.

It's okay to question God--Jesus did. You remember when Jesus looked to the
heavens and asked, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mt. 27:46).

The difference between His questioning and ours is that His questioning was
never a lack of faith or trust. Sometimes ours is.

The Hebrews writer said, "But without faith it is impossible to please him:
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6).

God are you really there? Oh yes, He's there! And He cares for you and me.

I hope you have a great day!

For previous devotionals, visit www.NeilRichey.com.