Where Was God? Understanding The Spiritual Context of Your Trauma By Chris Adsit

Sinful Actions of Evil Men

Your condition is due to the sinful actions of evil men – not God.

“Where was God, then? Where was He when I got shot? Where was He when that IED flipped our Humvee and killed my best friend? Did He go AWOL? Is HE a deserter?” It might have felt like that, but He was right there with you. Backed off, but ready to act and stepping in at just the right moment. Weeping over your dead friends just as He wept at the tomb of His friend Lazarus (John 11:30-36). Biding His time until the day He will judge and eliminate all evil and those who practice it. But in the mean time He is walking beside you and anguishing over the pain you are experiencing.

And protecting you. Have you considered that? You are well aware of all the bullets and shrapnel – both literal and otherwise – that got through to wound you. Do you know about all the ones He deflected to keep you alive? One thing’s for sure: if you belong to Him, there were many. But you won’t find out about them until heaven. He was there though, right with you, perfectly harmonizing your will, His will, your attacker’s will and the circumstances to keep you alive, equip you better for eternity and bring glory to Himself – God’s supernatural juggling act.

But why didn’t He at least keep your buddy alive? We’ll never know this side of heaven. There are too many variables for us to try to figure it out. It’s like a camel spider trying to understand a computer. It – and we – simply don’t have the equipment to figure those things out.

We keep trying anyway, however. That’s our nature. The Bible says that God put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Because of this, we know there’s something beyond this crazy life. We long for it. It makes us conclude that the present evil and suffering are not right; yet, we’re utterly immersed in it. And “no answers” frustrates the heck out of us.

The Enemy

Are you sure you know who your enemy is? There is a real being known as Satan who has existed for thousands of years. Satan still thinks he can overthrow God, and he and his network of spiritual combatants are continuing his assault even today. He hates God with a passion that surpasses anything a human has ever imagined. He hates God’s creation, and most of all, he hates humans – because of how much God loves them. Satan and his demons gained permission to enter and deeply influence the minds of people like Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Pol Pot and others, who in turn unleash devilish oppression and wars on humanity. He seeks defectors from God’s army that he can induct into his own. Human armies have their objectives, but many of them are subordinate to Satan’s goals. He is just using them.

He has objectives involving presidents, dictators and nations. But he also has objectives for each and every one of us. If he can’t use you, he’ll seek to eliminate you. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) Don’t miss this: he doesn’t want to trip you up, make you feel bad, bum you out or hurt your feelings. He wants to devour you, and he won’t quit trying until he’s accomplished this ultimate objective.

He will use any weakness we have, any experience we’ve gone through, and any vulnerability he can discover to fulfill his mission for us. You can be positive that he will use your traumatic combat experience to find the open spots in your armor. He got his eye on that place just above your vest, under your collarbone.

He is our enemy. Not God.

God’s Immune to My Pain

What’s God got to do with anything? He can’t know what I’m experiencing. He’s immune!

Applied to any other so-called “god” on the planet, that statement could be true. Fake gods are always depicted as transcendent, all-powerful, above the wretched company of mere mortals, not limited by the things that limit us, pain-free, trauma-free, and sorrow-free. Except for the God of the Bible. He is the only god who has suffered.

The theology of the Trinity is difficult for anybody to have a firm grasp on, but Jesus Christ was the physical manifestation of God. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit – one in essence but three in identity and function. When Jesus showed up in Bethlehem, it was God Himself packed into that tiny little body lying in that dirt animal feeding trough. The baby grew into a boy and then into a man. Along the way, He suffered many things – everything that the rest of us humans do – and He learned from them. The only thing He didn’t experience was guilt, because He never sinned.

Then he was rejected, scorned, falsely convicted, whipped, beaten beyond recognition, mocked, tortured and crucified. God was willing to endure this in order to pay the penalty that He Himself had set to atone for our sinful lives.

This is how our loving God defeats evil. He took it into Himself, experienced it at its worst, and then triumphed over it in the resurrection. He has earned the right to say, “I know exactly what you’re going through.”

The Reason for Pain

Suffering happens. Can any good come out of it? If you’ve ever been an athlete, if you’ve ever had a dream, if you’ve ever pursued excellence in anything, then you know that not only can suffering produce god results, it’s practically a requirement.

The same is true in the Kingdom of God. We’re not saying that God has caused the trauma that you have encountered. It’s been devastating, costly and very difficult – but it’s not a total loss. In fact, over time God will use it to accomplish extraordinarily god things in your life – if you will let Him.

Just as heat overcomes cold and light dispels darkness, the presence of God drives out evil. The trauma you experienced was because of evil. Its continuing effect is because of evil. Only as you allow the light and heat of God to enter those wounded areas will you be able to experience His healing and His victory.

He loves you with an infinite love. He has loved you since before you were born; since He created the earth. He loved you when you were in combat. He knows everything about you. He knew ahead of time what you were going to experience and knows how to heal you. He may not do it as fast as you’d like or in the manner that you’d prefer, but He’ll do it perfectly – if you will let Him.