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#10 Where is God?

  • Writer: Christian D'Andre
    Christian D'Andre
  • Nov 15, 2024
  • 4 min read

Updated: Feb 14

It would be weird if I wrote a series about a movie so steeped in Christianity without, y’know, bringing in Christianity. So as I was sitting in the sauna today, mulling over what today’s topic should be, I decided to bring God into this. Where does He fit into the picture? In the cycle of bell towers and outside worlds, where do we find the one true deity? And does He fit into our story in a way that matters? Let’s jump in. 


As I was tossing around this idea, I felt like every answer I came up with was pretty bandaid-ey. Thoughts like “Oh, God is our sanctuary, look at that one verse about Him being our stronghold” flooded my mind for hours. But then Romans 2:15 came to mind. Check this out:


“They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.”


Let’s unpack this. So basically, God is the “ought-to” that tugs on our hearts. He’s the call to adventure in Quasimodo’s gut, telling him that life is about far more than ringing bells and making little wooden carvings of people. He’s the fire in his soul that tells him he shouldn’t let his friend die at the hands of evil. He’s the “something stronger” that Quasimodo’s made of, helping him break the chains that hold him down. Deep down, those beckonings are God’s doing. He hardwired us to have a conscience that points back to Him. It’s a part of Himself that He wove into our DNA. And, ultimately, this part is one of His ways of saying 


“Come search for me.”


But why should we come search for Him? If God wanted to be found, wouldn’t He just come out in the open? Well, yes and no. You see, God wants to be found, but He wants us to want to find Him. Oof, that was a mouthful! Let me try to explain it another way. 


I think God gave us the ability to choose. But not just the ability to choose to do right or wrong, but the ability to choose to follow Him. We can choose to truly follow Him, or to do things our own way. If He plopped Himself into our laps and gave us the world at our fingertips, there wouldn’t be much of a give-and-take interaction to be had. It would be a one-sided smothering. It’s like having a friend that never shuts up. They drone on and on and on, and eventually you just want them to go away because you don’t bloody care about what they had for breakfast three Sundays ago!  


I think that’s why He waits for us to want Him, for us to participate in the dynamic, to show Himself. And He does show Himself, believe me. I have experienced some crazy things through the years and I believe there’s more to come. 


But back to my main point, I think some of the ways we are hardwired are parts of the way we are designed to ultimately come back to Him. Like how we feel restless when things are going too well. You’d think that having all your ducks in a row would be a good thing, right? Turns out it rots us inside. It’s not that we need something to go wrong to be happy, we are simply not fulfilling our higher calling. We crave something deeper- a master worth serving. And back to our verse, I think it’s saying that the deep “ought-to’s” are written on our hearts. But not the ought-to’s of the world, like we wrestled with in our series on the magic touch, but the true ought-to’s that God put in us to live by. The way He made the world to work before we rolled up and messed it all up. And what’s at the top of the list of ought-to’s? 


Love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, and with all your mind.” 


Can’t you hear this? It’s shouting “GO EXPLORING! GET EXCITED ABOUT WHAT YOU FIND! REVEL IN GOD’S GLORY! DRINK FROM THE CUP OF EXCITEMENT AND WONDER THAT HE HAS TO OFFER!” It’s written in our very DNA to go find the Lord and to fall in love with Him. That’s what it’s all about. That’s what the bell tower story is all pointing to. 


So I urge you, my dear friend, to listen to those urges, those calls that echo deep inside of you. But let me draw a little shortcut on your map: they all point to Jesus. To a loving Father and a forgiving friend that tore the world apart to get you back to His loving arms. All He wants is for the conversation to be genuine. He doesn’t want slaves, or brain-dead fake friends, He wants the real deal! He’s a loving Father that wants nothing more than to commune with you, to talk with you. To really connect with that same ping-pong talking back and forth like you would have with the friend sitting right beside you. He’s just waiting at the door for you to open it up for Him.


Don’t believe me? Read Matthew 7. Jesus literally says “Seek and you will find. If you who are evil know how to give good gifts, how much more so your Father in heaven, who is perfect, know what’s best for his children?” We just have to let Him in and He will roll up with a bundle of balloons, ready to party. And the best party is with Him because He is there to hang out with us. 


I could probably preach about this kind of thing for days, but you don’t need to hear my cliches rammed down your throat (or, if you do, feel free to reach out to me. We can pick each other’s brains for a while. It might be fun!) The bottom line is this: where is God? He’s the force in each of our hearts that gets the story rolling in the right direction. And all He wants is to be a part of the adventure that we wind up taking. So I pray you let Him get your party started, and that you two go on one heck of an adventure. Because the other cool thing about His adventures is that they always leave you far better off than you found yourself before. And that is a guarantee.


Until next time

May Peace be your Guide

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