Dear friends,
To be honest, there is a question that I’ve been carrying for some time as I observe what is happening around us in our world today.
Where is God when harm is done?
I don’t bring this up as a philosophical question or a theological debate. Rather, this is a real question we all face. I read the news and I ask, “Where is God when a child is abused? Where is God when a woman is violated and the community’s first response is to protect its own reputation? Where is God when the people who were supposed to keep you safe look away?”
There is a story in Genesis that will help us sit and grapple with this question. It’s the story of Dinah found in Genesis 34. The past two weeks, Gary has taken us through the story of Jacob and Esau. And after Genesis 34, the story moves on to the stories of Joseph and the other sons of Jacob. Dinah’s story appears right in the middle of these other stories, and I think there is a reason why her story is important.
This text is one of the most challenging in Genesis because while we hear what happens to her and what the men around her, think, say and do, we don’t hear her voice at all. And even God seems silent in the midst of all the harm and violence.
This reminds me of what’s happening currently in our world and the question: where is God when harm is done and injustice seems to go unpunished? How can we be assured that God is still a God of justice, and cares about those who have been harmed or abused?
Come join us this Sunday as we unpack this story, and learn about God’s character and care through the full arc of Scripture.
Shalom,
Pauline