In the times of bleakness, despair or desperation we may often wonder: Where, oh where, is God (Yahweh)? We become anxious when we think Yahweh is not present. In the Exodus reading, this is what is going on with the people of Israel as they begin to query Moses’s whereabouts. Has he deserted them? The backstory of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32:1-4) is familiar to us.
In our own lives or those of others we question things: immigrant children being separated from their parents on our borders, peoples’ rights being tampered with and trampled on, environmental issues too numerous to list. Who have we become? Have we been deserted? Are we out on a limb with no safety net? Why hasn’t the situation been immediately remedied or mollified? Why haven’t we been relieved? Is there a God?
Perhaps we are seeking God’s outcomes in our own preconceived answers. God’s rescue plan is not always ours and neither is God’s time always our time. God is in the breach of our human dilemmas and quandaries.
God is ever-present. Are we ever-present to hear the answer or receive direction from Yahweh?
