MINISTER’S NOTE 10 OCTOBER 2021
Life in this world is not a fairy tale that always has a
happy ending! As a result, dark questions of faith,
asking “Where is God?” are common amongst the
people of faith when they feel the absence of
God. The Christian life presents no greater challenge
than finding one’s way forward with integrity
and responsibility when God seems silent and absent.
In times like this it is best for us to stand in solidarity
with those who feel God’s absence and
alone. It is not the time to abandon them because
of their doubt, but rather to acknowledge that
even in the emptiness, they are not alone.
In the story of Job there is a word of hope for the
church, for the God whom Job sought has indeed
sought us and found us, even in the midst of our
suffering. Dietrich Bonhoeffer noted in his Letters
and Papers from Prison (1971) that in a world of suffering
“only the suffering God can help.”
Job’s cry and our laments are answered by Jesus
on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?” Even in the face of our bitter complaints,
we are safe and secure in this good news,
we are set free to lament and to argue our case
with God. Our gracious God is listening.
Blessings,
Vuyelwa.