Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. — Joshua 1:9
It seems that there are so many things that happen in this world that give rise to the question of “Where is God?” People often ask this question as they face struggles of life, natural disasters, or things that are difficult to understand or comprehend. I will never forget hearing someone say after a shooting at a school once, “How can God let this happen?”
The disasters that come in our life are hard to understand, comprehend, and even explain. We read in Scripture that sometimes these things happen because of sin. Sin causes a lot of problems in our world and sometimes it is judgment for sin that brings about these disasters that we may face.
We also find in Scripture that judgment is not the only cause of disaster. We find many times that things happen without explanation. The Bible is filled with stories about death of those who are young, death due to sickness, and many other things. The Bible describes earthquakes and violent storms that affected the lives of those in Scripture.
No matter the cause of the disasters we may face, the truth is that we are all going to face disasters in our lives. It is part of our world and something that we are either facing or will face. For the Christian, we do not have to face these things alone.
The words that are said in Joshua are true no matter what we face in life. God is with us no matter where we go. Right in the middle of our disaster, we can look to Him knowing that He will be there. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Because of this, we can be strong and of good courage, no matter the disaster that we may face.