Where do we find this God at work? Here the Bible is quite clear. God reveals himself right where people are -- in the midst of their hopes and hates, their loves and fears, their businesses and battles, which is to say, in historical events, and particularly in the historical events of the Jewish nation. As people for whom God is real look at the past, the present, and the future, they find their belief in him corroborated, clarified, and sometimes corrected. He does things -- history is his workshop. He gives evidence right where people are of who he is and what he wills to do. And though this always remains in part a mystery, nevertheless the place where some meaning enters in upon the mystery, the place where true relationship replaces mere information, is always in the midst of people's actual "human situation."This claim that God is at work right where people are is a tremendously significant claim. It means that to know God and be known of him you do not need to go off into a mystic trance, or cut yourself off from men, or go into permanent seclusion. God is right where you are, in your situation -- not somewhere else. Look at three examples of God's meeting people in their own historical situations:
EXAMPLE ONE: When the Children of Israel finally escaped from Pharaoh's pursuing armies, and got across the Red Sea, they did not congratulate themselves on their expert tactical maneuvering. On the contrary, they gave thanks to God who had delivered them from the enemy. And that interpretation of the event colored the whole of their later history. God had delivered them in their hour of peril; he was at work right where they were, with them in time of crisis.
EXAMPLE TWO: Centuries later these same Israelites were thoroughly trounced by the Babylonians and taken into captivity. And yet even in the whole tragic event of their defeat and exile they could see God revealing himself, showing them the consequences of failure to do his will. They discovered him at work, not by turning their backs on history, but right in the midst of history.
EXAMPLE THREE: When God finally revealed himself in a human life, this too occurred right where people were. The accounts of Jesus' birth remind us of this. The chance to see the Christchild was not offered to the shepherds while they were making a pilgrimage or even while they were in church, but while they were doing their proper job, which was taking care of sheep. The same news came to the Wise Men right where they were, engaged in their proper work, which was scanning the heavens. Christ himself is part of our history. He was born "in the days of Herod the king." He suffered "under Pontius Pilate." His life was datable.
The encounters between God and man take place right where people are, within the arena of human history.
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