Where is God?

There's a Bald Eagle in our vicinity - probably a juvenile given the constant cries we hear. Its parents are obviously around, too, but I've never seen anyone of them. I know they are all powerful creatures  - very large birds - but all I know of their presence is the thin cry coming from somewhere in the trees.

I wonder if our experience of God is like that. All of us sometimes wonder Where is God? when we're in some situation that we want changed. Why isn't God more responsive?

All of this leads me to ask: how would we recognize God's hand if He were actually doing something to answer our prayer? God has to work through humans who either respond to His promptings or not. God is not going to take over a person's will and force it to His, even if we pray a hundred times a day for an outcome. God will, however, constantly nudge those He wants to respond in order to answer a prayer.

His is those thin cries we hear - or don't hear - that represent a powerful, though unseen presence. Our ears are more or less attuned to God's frequency, so it often takes a long time to bring about a desired result. Sometimes I hear the Bald Eagle cry and other times I'm so absorbed in what I'm doing that I hear nothing at all. So, in like manner, I may be missing God's nudge that would set in motion the answer to someone else's prayer. Or, someone else may be tuned out so that my prayer is hindered and my hope thwarted. Yet, I know God continues to transmit. Perhaps we can raise the volume if we join our loving thoughts with those of God so that it's harder to ignore the nudge.

Maybe that's why we pray: to lend our loving voice to the voice of God so that the nudge becomes more recognizable. If I joined my voice to that of the eagle, it would be louder and my neighbors would not be able to tune it out so easily. If my husband joined in, it would be louder still, and if the whole block lent their voices, the eagle's cries would reach to the next subdivision.

God gets the blame for a lot of "unanswered" prayer, but if we all join in prayer for the others involved in an outcome - if two or more are gathered there I am among them - if we don't give up hope, and if we trust in God's love for us, the loving answer will eventually appear. To be in unity - loving unity -  is our strength. That kind of love cannot fail.