If God is for us, who is against us? Romans 8:31.

Some of our most urgent questions are 'Where is God when it hurts?' and 'Is God deaf?'. From biblical times God's apparent absence or silence have puzzled and pained his people.

In Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot 'God', we assume, does not come. Since Auschwitz we wonder if we can still praise him. And today, in many parts of the world, his servants are ridiculed, tortured and killed. (And the cries of the martyrs are still louder than those protesting the injustices done to them).

God is not deaf; he is listening. He suffers with his people, and hears their cries. 'Where was your God when my son was killed in a car accident?' asked the distraught mother. Replied the pastor quietly, 'The same place he was when his son was killed.'

When life is hard, I will look to you. When problems assume giant proportions, I will trust you. When I cannot cope, I ask for your strength Lord. You care about me, and I love you. Amen.