1 Kings 19: 11-12

¹¹ The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

“You have bilateral brain tumors.”

It’s been almost ten years since I heard those words. When I heard them, I had no idea how serious the situation was or how much my life would change. I’ll share more about that as we go deeper into this devotional series.

Anyway…I figured with my ten-year anniversary coming up, I should spend some time reflecting on those ten years and my journey with God as a result of those five little words—you have bilateral brain tumors.

So this devotional series will focus on my brain tumor journey, but mostly it’s about God’s goodness.

Where is God?

Bad things happen!

Life is filled with tragedies. People get sick. People die. There are natural tragedies like hurricanes and tornadoes. There are manmade tragedies like terrorism, school shootings, and senseless murders.

So the question becomes…where is God in the midst of all these tragedies?

In school, I always loved answering questions. My hand would shoot up with the hopes of the teacher calling on me. Can you see my hand? It’s up now.

I know the answer!

Where is God?

He’s right there with me—with each of us but… the above verse reminds us that He is a gentle whisper. If we’re screaming, complaining, grumbling, or even whining, it will be hard to hear a gentle whisper.

Of course, we’re human and God created us with emotions. So go ahead and have that pity party, but don’t get stuck there. If we allow the emotions to completely take over, it will be hard to hear that gentle whisper.

James 4: 10 tell us, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” We can get so angry or so depressed during our tragedies that we forget that God is right there with us. He will give us the strength and the peace and the joy that we need to endure, but we must make the first move—we must draw near to God.

That can look different for each of us. For some it might be reading the Bible; for others it might be praying; for others it might be through our relationships with other believers. Whatever your way, make no mistake draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

God bless you.