When we go through intense suffering from grief over the loss of a loved one or a health crisis it is not unusual to wonder if God cares about us. I will share with you here how I responded to a friend who asked for spiritual counsel after the loss of her son to cancer. I will address this issue by sharing some insights from three essays available on this website: Does God always answer our prayers? Can God be trusted? and How to be at peace in the midst of adversity.
In an essay I wrote in 2020 I asked the question: Does God always answer our prayers? I wondered about this, because of an experience I had when receiving treatment for my cancer at the University of Michigan. A procedure that I prayed would go well turned out anything but well. Did my prayer go unanswered by God?
What I might have previously seen as evidence of unanswered prayer was based on what I could see (and feel) taking place. Nowadays, I do not use visible evidence to determine if the prayer is being answered. Rather, I focus my mind on God’s unfailing love. Consider what other Bible writers with personal experience have to say about their encounters with God’s unfailing love in their lives:
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. Psalm 13:5 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. Psalm 94:18
The author of Hebrews in Chapter 11, the Hall of Faith” members chapter, talks about faith as being “certain of what we do not see,”(verse 1), and goes on to say in verse 6 that “without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” So, what pleases God is for us to seek Him so earnestly that by faith we are certain that He is rewarding us for that faith, even if we do not see that reward (i.e., we are (or become) “certain of what we do not see”).
