Remember

Bombs go off. Gunfire is heard. Campuses cancel classes. The T is shut down. Boston is on lockdown as police and FBI search for the men who have decided to end the lives of so many others. Eight miles outside the city is Eastern Nazarene College, a private Christian college. There the students pray. There they sing, and they say "our God is greater." Still they cannot ignore it, that question that plagues the city. Though many hashtag, "pray for Boston," many are asking, "Where is God?" Christians look to each other and through tears ask, "where is God?" Many who do not believe, turn to Christians, and as tears cascade down their faces ask, "where is your God?" It's not an easy question, and it's not a new one.
When crisis hits, we want to know where God is. We want to know why. Why do these things happen? If God is such a loving and gracious God with unfathomable power, why does He let these things happen? These questions are ones that never seem to have very good answers. In Psalm 42, the Psalmist is crying out to God in agony. He says,

"My tears have been my food day and night while all day long people say to me, 'Where is your God?'"(v. 3). 

The city of Boston is crying out, and many are looking at Christians and asking, "Where is your God?" The interesting thing is that the Psalmist doesn't answer them. Instead he begins to remember.
See, I think the answer to "Where is God?" Is that He's here. Boston is not a Godforsaken city. He is here, and He cares deeply about what's going on. The God I serve, the one you read about in the Bible, is a passionate God. When people do wrong, He calls them out. When He gets angry at unrighteousness, He flips tables over. When his friend dies, He breaks down and weeps. This is the God I serve. As I watch the news and I see the pain on people's faces, as people approach me crying and asking, "Where is God?" I cry back as I say, "He's right here." He's on that sidewalk crying over the bodies. He's on that campus sitting with the students as they mourn. He's in all of these places, and He's crying out, "Remember!" Oh, Boston, remember! Remember God and all He has done, and all He is capable of. Remember how He died for you. Remember how He embraced suffering for you.
The Psalmist ends this chapter by saying,

"Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God." (v. 11).

 The Psalmist could still praise God, though he was caught up in so much turmoil, he praised God, because he chose to remember. So remember, amidst all the chaos and pain remember what God has done. Remember that He is a God who is here and who is hurting with us. Put your hope in Him.