Troubles come. They pile up higher. They are intense, they are suffocating, they take over every part of our lives. 

You know what I’m talking about. We’ve all been there. And so often we find ourselves, in the midst of our troubles, crying out: “God? Where are You?”

Christmas 2022 will go down in Canadian history. A powerful blizzard moved into the province of Ontario on Christmas Eve, and quickly moved into the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick. Winds ripped through at up to 120 km/hr, driving the wind chill down to -20. Whether the specific region got much snow or not was irrelevant. The driving winds made visibility “0”. All regions got some snow, but the hardest hit areas were those along the shores of the eastern end of the Great Lakes. The city of Buffalo, New York, for example, lies on the southeastern shore of Lake Erie. Due to what is locally known as “Lake Effect” snow, the city was soon buried under as much as 2 metres of snow. The southwestern shores fared only slightly better. States of emergency were soon issued for all of the Erie Shoreline communities, roads were closed and people weren’t allowed to enter or leave. This meant that thousands were separated from their families through the holiday season. The storm left thousands of people without electricity, and since most of the furnace systems in the area are dependent upon electricity, the homes were also without heat. Combine that with 120 km/hr winds and -20 temperatures, and being indoors was only slightly better than being outdoors. 

The roads were a real mess. Hundreds of cars were stranded in the ditches along the highways and country roads, including a surprising number of city snow plows. Unfortunately, there were also people stranded in many of those cars, and even sadder, some of them lost their lives…

My wife and I weren’t in the worst of the storm. Surprisingly, although we live just 10 km north of one of the hardest hit communities on the Canadian side of Lake Erie, our worst complaint was a 45 minute power outage and having to wait two days for the city to come and plow out our crescent. Nonetheless, we did get a fair amount of snow, so much so that the crèche my wife had set up in the front yard was completely buried in a snow drift… 

When troubles come, it feels exactly like this, doesn’t it? Like life has just been shut down, leaving you feeling like you are in the cold and dark, all alone. And back to my original question: Where is God in all of this? 

My wife has the lights that outline the crèche on a timer, and at the designated time, those lights came on. It didn’t seem to matter to the lights that the crèche was completely covered in snow, they simply came on, lighting up that white snow drift that had once been a crèche from the inside out. No, it didn’t look like it does when it isn’t covered in snow, but in a way, it had its own sort of unique beauty. 

And right there in the middle of the snow drift that had been a crèche comes the answer to our question. Where is God when we are inundated with problems? He is right there in the midst of the situation, and His light hasn’t gone out. He may be hidden from view by a few details of the circumstances, but just like the lights continued to shine underneath and through the pile of snow that covered the crèche, God’s light also shines through our bad situations; and if we are perfectly honest with ourselves, we will probably see that the situation has a unique beauty all its own! 

Take, for example, when my wife went through cancer. She has often said that she wouldn’t trade those weeks for anything, because the closeness she felt to God during that situation was just so special.

Interestingly, if the lights had never come on under the snow that covered the crèche, we might have completely forgotten about them. In the same way, when we are going through trials, it is easy to forget that God is in the midst of them. When we seek Him, however, it will soon become apparent that God is, indeed, there, holding our hands, holding us together, carrying us through. 

What kind of negative circumstances do you find yourself in at the moment? Whatever it is, no matter how suffocating it may be, seek God. For when you do, you will find Him … Right in the middle of your circumstances! “For You have been a stronghold for the helpless, A stronghold for the poor in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall.” (Isaiah 25:4 NIV)

Where’s God in your storm? He’s right there, and if you’ll make an effort to step back a bit, you might even see Him shining through the trials and troubles!

Idea by Rob Chaffart
Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries