Why doesn’t God take away our problems and suffering when we ask Him to? Why does God tolerate so much suffering in the world? We heard last month about God as Immanuel, this notion that God through Christ is present with us in that suffering.
But the question remains – if a chef makes terrible soup, does it make it better if he comes out of the kitchen and eats it with you?
But then, the soup isn’t always bad. In fact, often the soup is incredible – but when we are in the midst of those bouts of “bad soup” out makes us question God. Academically we can recognize that we are not in a position to question the nature and decisions of the creator of the universe. But if we are His children, as He tells us, maybe we do have a relationship where that kind of question is ok to ask. Maybe He even welcomes it.
We can all agree that a good parent does more than be present in the pain of their children, but they do what they can to take away that pain. So if God can do that, why doesn’t He always?
Psalm 121 sure makes it seem like there is more of a role for God to play. The word “Protector” or “protect” appears six times in the eight verses. The single word šāmar or “your protector” appears at the exact syllabic middle of the psalm.
The psalm begins with a question and is followed with an unambiguous answer. The psalm includes multiple “merisms” or contrasts between two opposites in order to demonstrate the totality of something. God protects by night and day; from the physical danger of the sun and the emotional danger of the moon (i.e. lunacy); in the going out of the city walls to work to the returning from the fields to our home. And not just now, but from now until eternity.
But what does this protection entail? It doesn’t mean we won’t be hurt. It never has – no ancient worshipper singing this song on the way to the temple thought they would never see any problems. So what does it mean? As a child we definitely see it as a simple protection, but as we mature and faith matures.
Losing that simpler understanding is a real loss, and we do need to work through the “tasks of grief” and reassess our relationship to what has changed for us.
So what does that protection mean? It’s not protection from pain or sadness. It means, for one, that he will not let us get lost. No matter how far we wander, he will not leave us. He knows how he will bring us home, no matter how far we go or how long it takes. This is the heart of the gospel – no matter how lost we are, we are never lost to Him.
When we are in dark seasons of loss, that is probably not what we would pick. We would want the pain gone and the loss restored, right away! But God’s protection means that the doubt and pain will not take us away from Him. We don’t need to be afraid of our feelings – we can feel our feelings and God is still there right beside us.
It also means that there is no journey to God out of grief. God is there with us in the midst of it, and the moment we need Him, He is right there.
— Sermon Notes, Denise Lindberg, Renew Church, Lynnwood WA, April 21, 2024