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Samplers of public opinion, such as George Gallup and Louis Harris, have stopped people on the street or called them on the phone and asked this question, “Do you believe in God?”  The results have varied a few percentage points from time to time and place to place.  But always, the vast majority say, “Yes, I do believe in God.”

But after that poll there is another question that we need to ask.  In what kind of God do we believe?  Or to put it another way, what do we believe about God?”  That He is?  Yes, we believe that.  That He created the universe? Yes, we believe that too.  But do we believe He is actively involved in human events?  Do we believe He cares about people?  More specifically, do we believe He cares about you? That, I think can be the most difficult thing to believe about God.  At times, it is especially difficult for us to believe that he cares about us.

Most of us believe that God could correct the circumstances that make our lives difficult and at times, almost impossible.  But we are not at all sure that He is willing to do this, and that leaves us wondering about His concern.  Does He know about our needs?  If He knows, does He care?  And if He cares, why doesn’t He do something?  Let us be honest, there are no easy answers to those questions. Given the kind of world that we live, and given the problems with which we must deal, the most difficult thing to believe about God is that He really cares.

Some years ago, a Jewish rabbi named Harold Kushner was brought face to face with difficulty.  Like most of us, he had grown up believing in God.  Since this God was the creator and controller of all things, He took it for granted that life was essentially fair.  Then one day in 1966, this rabbi’s faith encountered a devastating challenge.  His three-year-old son was diagnosed as having a rare disease that causes rapid aging.  Eleven years later, at age fourteen, the boy died.

This personal tragedy forced Rabbi Kushner to rethink his life and to reexamine his faith.  In essence, he decided his options were three.  One, he could give up believing in God altogether.  Two, he could believe in God who is all-powerful, but not all- good. Or three, he could believe in a God who is all-good, but not all-powerful.  He chose the third option and wrote it down in a book entitled, When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

Almost overnight, that book became a run-away best seller.  Obviously, many people are troubled by the same question: How can we go believing God cares about us when so many things seem to say he does not?  For Rabbi Kushner, the answer was clear – God does indeed care. He would stop the suffering if He could.  But sometimes, He cannot.  Though I do not entirely agree with that explanation, our Christian faith has never pretended to take the mystery out of life.  Why are some people healed and others are not?

I do not suppose to have all the answers. But the reality is that God cares about us.  Admittedly, that is not an easy faith. But it is a great faith. I cannot think of anything more helpful than to get up in the morning and go to bed at night believing God cares about us. I wish I could prove that to someone who desperately needs to believe.  But that is our faith- God really cares about you and me. I learned this faith by looking at God’s Son, Jesus.  Jesus always cared and continues to care about each and every person.  That is what the ministry of Jesus was all about.  Keep trusting in Him no matter what and you will know it to be true as well. Jesus really cares and loves you.  Trust Him!