Where is He?

Where is God amidst the coronavirus scare?

I wondered this a few nights ago. Apart from the fear of running out of toilet paper, I was feeling good. And within a few hours, sports leagues had cancelled their seasons and Tom Hanks and his wife announced they tested positive. If the anxiety surrounding this virus was not real beforehand, it was then.

So, I asked God where He was. And then I realized all the places I'd been looking for Him.

I'd looked for God on the news every morning for weeks.

I'd looked for His presence every few hours on my news apps.

I'd looked for His peace on the toilet paper aisle.

I'd looked for His comfort every time I have checked the fridge and freezer, wondering if we have enough food stocked up.

I looked for His providential hand on Amazon, racking my brain trying to think of anything we'd need should we be stuck in our home for days.

But I had not simply turned to that leather-bound Book filled with thin pages of hope. The very pages that have been around amidst endless earthly trials and tragedies—wars, outbreaks, uproars. The world may change, but this Book does not. A friend encouraged reading Psalm 91, and the first verse stuck out:

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."'

Dwelling in the shelter of the Most High.

Dwelling in the shelter, instead of dwelling on the fears.

Dwelling in the shelter, instead of dwelling on the news.

Dwelling in the shelter, instead of dwelling on panicked grocery shopping.

Dwelling in the shelter, instead of frantically texting friends each time a stressful news alert appears on my phone.

Dwelling on what I know to be true—that He is a good God even when the world is frenzied. Dwelling instead of wondering where He is.

So let's dwell. Dwell on His goodness, dwell on our blessings, dwell on the good instead of the panic.

Let's go to Him. Go to Him with our fears, go to Him with our concerns for the compromised and the elderly, go to Him with our worries for what this means for so many.

And let's serve. Serve others by praying, serve others by dropping off groceries, serve others by not hoarding everything but leaving bath tissue and cans for the next person who rolls their buggy by, needing a glimpse of hope on those near-empty shelves.

Because when we seek Him, we can find Him. And He's always there. Yes, even now.