There are those who think that there is no God. Others say that God exists only as the figment of one’s imagination. Some think that God is only an ancient concept no longer relevant. Others insist that God is dead. So, the question arises, are they right? Is this faith-in-God thing something that we should just ditch? Is science or reason our best gods in this decade or century?
I reflect on the fast-moving technology that we face daily. I consider the changes in day to day life we constantly encounter. My question is, “What’s up God?” Are there new ways to see you at work? Do you understand the challenges which we all face?
My answer is that God is and always has been way ahead of us from the get-go. God not only has watched us with a gleeful eye as we have uncovered the intricacies of the power and workings that are daily revealed but God is also opening new possibilities to the curious and the scientific about new things just waiting to be discovered all the time. I believe God is walking just before us to guide us and lead us in the opportunities that lie before us.
Let us take a peak back at a passage about God and his care for the Israelites. As you read, notice how God really gets how his creation thinks. Exodus 13 says, “When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was nearer; for God thought, ‘If the people face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt.’ So, God led the people by the roundabout way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of the land of Egypt prepared for battle” (Exodus 13:17-18).
The writer of Exodus describes this guiding God as going before (leading) the Israelites by day as a pillar of cloud and by night as a pillar of fire so that the people will always be able to find their way. God even understands how tempted the people will be if they are distracted by a warring enemy or unknown obstacles, so God adjusts the route “by the roundabout way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea.”
Because God did this for the Israelites, and through the centuries there have been innumerable examples and testimonies of individuals, groups, and nations who have experienced similar wonders of God’s leading and interacting in their lives, it would be difficult to imagine that God would suddenly stop. Can you even imagine that God would just sit down and say, “I’m finished; I have had enough of this creative and leading business; I’ll just let people, all of my creation, fend for themselves?”
Is it not possible that God is doing a new thing today and tomorrow? I believe God is leading us forward into new ways of being and doing, new formats of life together, and new instruments of creativeness that will unveil discoveries we never even dreamed existed. I do not believe God is dead or irrelevant. In fact, perhaps, maybe God is just getting started. The question is, are we willing to let God lead and guide us into the future?
Prayer (from “Creating God” by Jeffery Rowthorn}:
Creating God, your fingers trace the bold designs of farthest space. Let sun and moon and stars and light and even me praise you. Amen.