Where can I find God when life doesn’t make sense?
It’s one of the oldest questions people ask.
And usually it’s not asked during easy seasons.
It’s asked after loss.
After a major disappointment.
Often after prayers that seem unanswered.
Or even after a future you counted on suddenly disappears.
In a recent conversation on The Grandpa Channel, hospital chaplain Jenny Richards offered a thoughtful perspective on finding God amid uncertainty.
A God You Can’t Fully Explain
Jenny described God as mysterious.
Not distant.
Not absent.
Just bigger than our ability to fully understand. Do we really want to have God all figured out, after all he’s god. Right?
She shared a quote from theologian Dallas Willard, who once described Jesus in a single word:
Relaxed.
That idea stayed with her.
Because if God is not anxious, perhaps we don’t need to grip everything so tightly either.
Perhaps faith isn’t about certainty.
But more importantly, perhaps it’s about trust. Trust that he will always be with us.
God Doesn’t Always Remove Pain
One of the most striking moments in our conversation came when Jenny shared a phrase she’d heard:
“God protects us from nothing and sustains us in everything.”
That statement challenges many of our assumptions.
Most of us want faith to function like protection from suffering.
But Jenny’s experience has been different.
She lost her sister.
And now because of that, she spends her days with cancer patients.
She witnesses grief and heartbreak regularly.
Yet her faith remains.
Not because life has been easy.
Because she believes God stays present within it.
Learning to Stay
Jenny believes one of the deepest forms of spiritual care is simply staying.
Not fixing.
Or explaining the pain away.
Not minimizing.
Staying. And often staying silent.
Remaining present with another person’s pain. Even when it feels uncomfortable.
Offering witness rather than solutions.
In many ways, this reflects the heart of faith itself.
Not escape from suffering.
Presence within it.
Where Can I Find God?
For Jenny, God is often found in unexpected places.
Hospital rooms.
Hard conversations.
Silence.
Grief.
Acts of compassion between strangers.
And then there are moments when people choose love over certainty.
The answer may not always arrive as clarity.
And sometimes it arrives as presence.
Reflection Questions
- Have you ever experienced God differently than you expected?
- What has suffering taught you about faith?
- Where have you found unexpected moments of grace?
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