The Stumbling Follower: Where is God?

I am an addict. That's right, I am addicted to exercise. It may be that I am addicted to the endorphins that my body produces when I run, or swim, or do any of the other activities that I have tried over the years. It may also be that I am addicted to processed sugar in the form of cookies and/or chocolate. And I know that to keep from becoming excessively large I need to exercise if I want to continue to eat cookies.

This time of year I find myself (weather allowing) out running with my dog, Titus, six mornings a week. We don't go very far, we run either 30 or 45 minutes. He gets to do his business and both of us burn off some calories. It is pretty much a win-win for us. We are both hooked.

While running I listen to my iPod. I am a big fan of contemporary Christian music. I like that I can find music that is rock, R&B, and even hip-hop that points me to Jesus. Over the years this kind of music has been an often-used vehicle of communication by the Holy Spirit to get my attention.

Musically I can't carry a tune in a bucket. It just isn't my gift. My singing of praise and worship music is much more along the lines of a "joyful noise" than any ear-pleasing melodic offering. That being said, I am very good at listening. I try to get a good selection of up-tempo music to listen to while we run.

Recently I have come across a rapper by the name of Nate Feuerstein. Nate calls himself NF and from talking with my 21 year-old son, I understand that his music is pretty popular with teens and 20-somethings. I can see why. His songs address topics such as abuse, suicide and drug use. These are all topics that many young people face on a regular basis and NF doesn't sugar-coat his songs.

I am not a young person physically, but I like to think that I am a 25 year-old stuck in a 54 year-old body. So it then makes more sense that this music also speaks to me on some level. I suppose God can use just about anything to speak into our lives if we are listening for it. I do my best to listen.

One of NF's songs is titled "Oh Lord!" It has grabbed my attention on more than one occasion as I run, or more accurately stumble, with my dog around the park. In the song NF basically asks, "Where is God?". He asks the question from the viewpoint of a non-believer, or doubter. Then he answers the question in a way that smacks the listener "upside the head".

The song really grabbed me in the way it addresses how people only look to God when their world is falling in, and that when things are good they have no need for Him. How true that is. It was sure how it worked in my life.

I was doing just fine on my own. I had a good job, a nice home, and great wife and kids. I didn't need God, or so I thought. Then my world came crashing down and I no longer had my family. A divorce had taken away my reason for living. I went through a bankruptcy. I was on the verge of suicide. Things were pretty dark.

It was in that time that I felt like my only other option was to see if there really was anything to this God that people were talking about. Oh sure, I had been to church when I was a kid, but it was all very formal and religious. There had been no talk of having a relationship with God. I didn't know Him.

I was looking for something else, something different. I was looking for a God I could talk to. I wasn't sure that this kind of God existed. But it took me going through a major trial in my life to spark my desire to find out more about who the real God is.

"Oh Lord!", speaks to this.

At first, when we are in those lowest of low times we want God to fix everything and we want it done yesterday. "Oh Lord, do You see us down here?" NF asks "We look in the sky, 'Why ain't You listening?' The truth is, God hears us. In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus is teaching on how to pray. He says that we shouldn't be like those who make a big production of prayer and we also need to understand that repeating the same words over and over again isn't the way to go either. Then Jesus says, "Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!" (Matt. 6:8).

NF then seems to ask what many young people are thinking. "If God's really real, then where is He?" To which he talks about how man only prays when things are going wrong. This is SO true. Even many who claim to be followers of Christ will only go to Him in prayer during times of trouble. I don't know who said it but I remember hearing a sermon preached where the question was asked, "What if you only hand the things that you thanked God for?" In other words, I need to be grateful for all I have and all my blessings all the time.

NF explains that it works both ways. If we turn our backs on God, how would we ever have the relationship needed to receive His blessings? The song makes great points, but the one that keeps jumping out at me is the lyric that says, "It's hard to answer prayers when nobody's praying to you." God desires to have a relationship with His children. As a parent I may know what my kids need before they ever know themselves, but I wait to hear it from them because I want to have a relationship with them where they know how much they are loved.

If I took care of my kids in such a way that they never even realized their needs how would they ever understand the job of a parent? What model would they have to follow? God is the same way, He wants us to come to Him in all situations both good and bad. That way we better understand how loved we are by the one who created us. The author of Hebrews says, "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." (Hebrews 11:6 ESV).

NF shows us that it just as easy as calling out to Him "Oh Lord, oh Lord, do You see us down here?" Call out to Him in good times and bad. He is there. He is listening. And He will bless you.

Blessings,
-Bry

"Oh Lord"
NF
(Click the link at the bottom to hear the song)

When I die, put my ashes in the trash bag
I don't care where they go
Don't waste your money on my gravestone
I'm more concerned about my soul
Everybody's gon' die
Don't everybody live though
Sometimes I look up to the sky
And wonder do You see us down here?

Oh Lord, oh Lord, do You see us down here?
Oh Lord, oh Lord

Listen, yeah everybody wants change
Don't nobody wanna change though
Don't nobody wanna pray
Till they got something to pray for
Now everybody's gon' die
But don't everybody live though
Sometimes I look up to the sky
And wonder do you see us down here?

Oh Lord, oh Lord, do You see us down here?
Oh Lord, oh Lord

It's easy to blame God but harder to fix things
We look in the sky like, "Why ain't You listening?"
Watching the news in our living rooms on the big screens
And talking 'bout "If God's really real, then where is He?"
You see the same God that you saying might not even exist
Becomes real to us, but only when we dying in bed
When ya healthy it's like, we don't really care for Him then
Leave me alone God, I'll call you when I need you again
Which is funny, everyone will sleep in the pews
Then blame God for our problems like He sleeping on you
We turn our backs on Him, what do you expect Him to do?
It's hard to answer prayers when nobody's praying to you
I look around at this world we walk on
It's a smack in the face, don't ever tell me there's no God
And if there isn't then what are we here for?
And what are y'all doing down there? I don't know Lord

Oh Lord, oh Lord, do You see us down here?
Oh Lord, oh Lord

Do You see us down here? Oh Lord
Can You see us down here? Oh Lord
Oh Lord, oh Lord
Can You see us? Can't You see us?

(Songwriters: Nate Feuerstein / Arthur David Garcia

Click here to go to the song