By Katy Mariotti

Where is God?

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”
Luke 2:6-7 English Standard Version

I’ve had the joy the past few days of singing a winter concert in this beautiful church. I’ve sung in this church occasionally since I was a child, and it never fails to strike awe when I walk in. Big churches like this always do that to me. It’s rare in our everyday lives to walk into a building where so much time and effort have gone into making a place majestic and beautiful. How wonderful, to have a place like this to glorify God, and to get even a tiny taste of His majesty!

But what about those everyday lives I mentioned? Where is God when we’re not in a huge stone church? I recently thought of the book “Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret,” by Judy Blume. I read it when I was young but forgot about much of it until I saw the recent movie version. Margaret often talks to God but feels confused about religion because of her upbringing. She’s looking to “feel” God, and I think this is a concept a lot of people want. They want to “feel” God as a magical, powerful presence.

The event of Jesus’ birth is a great reminder that God is with us, even when things don’t feel magical at all. Mary had to travel a long way while very pregnant, which can’t have been comfortable. And then when they arrived at Bethlehem it was crowded and there was no place to stay. Would you like to give birth in a place where animals live? It couldn’t have been very clean and I’m sure it didn’t smell very nice. What a stunning reminder that God is with us in the least magical of places. God doesn’t promise a magical feeling of His presence, but He does promise to be with us and hear us in our sufferings.

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Romans 8:26 ESV

He sent His Holy Spirit to be with us in majestic churches, and in the unmajestic places too. The Holy Spirit is there when we’re sick with a stomach bug, there in our kids’ room that’s so messy we can’t even walk in it, there when we’re stuck in horrible traffic, there in seedy motel rooms, there when we’re mourning, there when anxiety and depression overwhelm us. Praise God for His glorious majesty, and praise the Lord for His humble birth and for the Holy Spirit in our most humble times!

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado