Nick Cave’s song Into My Arms, opens with the line, ‘I don’t believe in an interventionist God’. He goes on to reflect further on what he may allow to be or not be. He wrote that song in 1997 and subsequently suffered the pain of having two of his sons die. A recent interview on the ABC and his book Faith Hope and Carnage portray him as a man with genuine gritty faith, but in this song conclusion is crystal clear – God has left us to figure things out on our own.

I do believe in an interventionist God – but I don’t believe he is predictably interventionist. And that is where frustration and confusion often lies.

If ever there was a conundrum it is the question of how God works (or doesn’t work) in this world. Sometimes we hear things attributed to ‘the hand of God’ that can sound amazing or absurd. Sometimes we hear God blamed for things that may or not have been his fault. How can we ever know what is going on?

These reflections come on the back of watching this week’s ABC Foreign Correspondent, the story of Dr Ken Elliot and his wife who were taken as hostages in Burkina Faso, with her being released after 2 weeks and him after over 7 years. It’s an amazing story of faith and faithfulness – both theirs and Gods – at least that’s how it appears to me (and to them). They attribute Ken’s eventual release to prayer and God’s faithfulness. They also believe God knew all of this was going to happen and somehow it was part of his plan. Hmmmm… You can’t watch the story and not be inspired by the Elliot’s story – spending 40 years in one of the poorest of countries living out their faith in practical and clear ways – yet their time in Africa ended with an abduction and some very difficult years. Neither of them appeared at all bitter or angry for the experience even though there were many difficult years. They would say ‘God had it all in control.’

Really? Was God in control of all those events? Was God manipulating people and actions to bring about their kidnapping and release for some great reason we are unable to see?

We speak like this often, believing that God is somehow at work in the world, behind the scenes working things out oblivious to our desires and actions – like he has a plan and we only appear to be free agents within that plan. We also speak of listening and discerning God’s next step for us, assuming he will choose to guide and direct. Or sometimes we look back in hindsight and believe we see the hand of God at work in circumstances and events. I imagine it’s more accurate to say that we interpret events this way – and while I do believe God is at work I’m not sure we can always interpret those events as such with any accuracy.

If we believe in a world where evil forces are at work as well as good, then perhaps we could just as credibly say that it was those forces that led to the Elliot’s kidnapping?… For whatever reason evil prevailed for a time and good people suffered as a result.

Was it ‘God’s will’ for evil to prevail for a time, for them to be abducted and separated for so long? Was this all part of a greater plan? Honestly… we don’t know. We really can’t say anything conclusively, but we do all have a leaning in these times. Some of us see God as faithful despite the evil that was at work to abduct them, others see God at work in the abduction to bring about some greater good.

To hear the story tonight was to listen to two faithful, godly people speak with grace and kindness and not a hint of antagonism. Perhaps if you work in a place like Burkina Faso you have already accepted the risk of such things happening. Maybe you can’t go live in a notoriously dangerous place and cry foul if you happen to be on the receiving end of some ill treatment? I think that’s a fair statement. All work of that kind has a risk. Their stance was perhaps like that of the 3 blokes tossed in the fire in the book of Daniel 3:17-18

If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the blazing fiery furnace and from your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”

Daniel 3:17-18

Surely you have read that at times and thought ‘what kind of faith is that?’ He is able to save us – but maybe he won’t… I’d suggest it’s a very realistic faith – an approach to God that acknowledges his capacity, but also our own inability to predict what his actions may be in any given circumstance.

I’d defy anyone to state with 100% clarity what God was up to with the lives of the Elliots in Africa over the last 8 years. Some would say that their faithfulness gives added ‘boot’ to their many years of ministry and may have repercussions down the line they may never live to see. Some would say it was cruel that God allowed this kidnapping to happen and that he really let them down after so many years of faithful service.

Their story has a somewhat happy ending. They get to spend their final years together in peace, back in the security of Perth, although I’d be half inclined to guess that Ken is secretly making plans to return if given the chance 🙂 He just seems like that kind of bloke.

While their story had a happy ending – one where we could say God was faithful and good, if we consider the plight of another significant and dedicated Christian then things didn’t end so well. 20th C theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was part of the resistance to the Nazi government, and despite his overt pacifism, he eventually got involved in a plan to assassinate Hitler. Unfortunately for him the plan came unstuck and he finished up in jail. At this time he was engaged – in love – and he wrote letters to his fiance from jail, but Bonhoeffer did not get released. In fact he was executed just a few days before his prison camp was liberated by the American forces. At the age of 39 his life was cut short.

It begs the question – where was God in this situation?

Was this a divine stuff up – a real case of God getting it very wrong or was this all part of a greater plan? Why wouldn’t a good God come thru earlier for a man with such dedication and capacity? And his fiance?… How did she process his execution? It wasn’t fair… but God didn’t stop it happening…

Bonhoeffer died as he lived with the final words, “This is for me the end, the beginning of life.”

There is no sense in Bonhoeffer’s writings that he felt duped by God with his imprisonment, or that his death was all part of a sovereign plan. I get the sense Bonhoeffer knew the broken nature of our world and accepted that. He also knew the risks of getting involved in the assassination plot so he wore the consequences.

These are two ‘public events’ that we can reflect on, but all of us have things happen in our lives at times that we may refer to as a) the hand of God b) good fortune. Can we ever know which is which? I sense we can to some degree, but never conclusively. When I hear people speaking of their whole life as having been orchestrated by divine acts I am somewhat skeptical. Equally when people of faith refuse to consider any involvement or interaction of God in their worlds I wonder ‘why bother with a God who never gets involved?’

But we have to be careful with how we approach this whole subject.

The person who runs late for a plane that crashes and fails to board may be giving thanks to God for his preservation of their life, but the families of the 10 Christian people on board the plane who died in the crash are less likely to be thanking God for the outcome. Where was God at work in that scenario – if at all?

You get the problem? The complexity?

It seems that sooner or later we have to be content to live with mystery and to accept that we simply do not know why things do or don’t happen. Hard theological lines that see God as orchestrating every event are impossible to accept – God inevitably becomes a monster – the author of famine, flood, one punch deaths… and so on.

To believe in a non interventionist God is also equally unsatisfying. Why bother praying if he has already checked out? And how can you ever have a relationship with a God like that?

God’s action or inaction in the world has been a significant issue for our family over the last 5 months as we have processed Sam’s death. Was Sam’s death all part of a divine plan – ‘God’s will’ as we call it? I wouldn’t subscribe to that

Did God see this happening and fail to intervene? Well yeah… if we accept that God is ever present and all powerful then he did not act to save our son’s life. Much as he didn’t intervene to delay Bonhoeffer’s death by a few days he didn’t miraculously give Sam extra air in his lungs to make it to the surface.

Or perhaps God is like Cave describes him – ‘non-interventionist’. He saw, he watched, he knew, but he keeps his hands off as he always does?

Every scenario presents a wrestle, or a choice to live with mystery.

My core conviction has been that God is good – and he is perfectly represented in Jesus. And I start from there with all of my theological musings. If i take that foundation stone away I can become all kinds of cynical, but while it is there I am able to trust when I cannot see and when all of my emotions are wanting to blame and accuse.

So – I tire of some of our Christianese that avoids the complexity and mystery of our world and I hope for more wrestling with our tendency to try and apply a black or white filter to any situation that appears to be grey. The Elliot’s story, Bonhoeffer and our own recent events all require some nuanced and careful reflection rather than glib statements that often leave us feeling unsatisfied and with more questions than answers.