I have a guilty pleasure. A few weeks ago I started watching the television show Preacher on Hulu. I made it through two seasons and am waiting on the third to come to Hulu soon. The show is taken from the comic book of the same name. Currently the show is following Jess (Preacher) and company as they search for God who has left heaven and is hiding out on earth.

I have to admit lately I can kind of identify with the plot of Preacher and I’m probably not alone. I think a lot of us are looking around at our world and are maybe wondering the same thing, “Where is a God?”. There’s just so much evil in our world right now that it seems to be everywhere. Tune in or log on and there it is. Some of it isn’t new but much of it is. White supremacy, mass shootings, children in cages, corruption in politics. Okay, so that last one isn’t new but we seem to be so okay with it these days that it happens in plain day and we’re unfazed.

I think the frustration is we feel like God has just given up on us. It constantly feels like the bad guys are winning and keep on winning. It just seems like everyone is existing in their own little sphere and don’t care about anyone outside of it. We’ve lost all sympathy for anyone else and only care about ourselves.

Sorry if this feels totally negative. I guess I’m just venting some of my own frustrations with what I see in our world and how it makes me feel. It probably doesn’t help that I’m dealing with some personal stuff right now and there’s a lot of bickering in the church circles I’m a part of.

Unlike Preacher I’m well aware God hasn’t gone anywhere. James 1:17 actually tells us that God “does not change like shifting shadows”. In truth, if we feel like God is far away it’s because we have shifted, not God. I hearken back to Peter when he was walking to Jesus on the waves. Peter took his eyes off Jesus, became aware of the storm around him, and began to sink.

I think the takeaway is this: we need to keep our eyes on Jesus in the midst of this storm of a world we find ourselves in. It’s ugly. It’s brutal. It’s scary. But God is still God and God is still there. So please join me in keeping our eyes on Jesus and doing our best to being God’s Kingdom here to earth by loving others.