Chapter 22 - "How God Places Himself in the Story"

As we said in Chapter 21, when we are in the middle of the desert, we feel like God is absent. In this Chapter, Miller highlights the stories of three women - 2 women from the Bible and Miller's own wife. In each story, Jesus seemed to tarry in His response to the womens' requests and need. I will let you read the stories on your own, but I want to post some of Miller's observations about why Jesus often responds to our prayers in this way.

"God permitted a difficult situation in ...their lives, and then he lingered at the edge. Not in the center, at the edge. If he were at the center, if they had had regular visions of him, they would not have developed the faith to have a real relationship with him. God would have been a magic prayer machine...

When God seems silent and our prayers go unanswered, the overwhelming temptation is to leave the story - to walk out of the desert and attempt to create a normal life. But when we persist in a spiritual vacuum, when we hang in there during ambiguity, we get to know God. In fact, that is how intimacy grows in all close relationships.

Many of us wish God were more visible. We think that if we could see him better or know what is going on, then faith would come more easily. But if Jesus dominated the space and overwhelmed our vision, we would not be able to relate to him. Everyone who had a clear-eyed vision of God in the bible fell down as if he were dead. It's hard to relate to pure light."

What do you guys think of this? For me, I think it's hard. I hate ambiguitiy and love closure. I wonder if my resistance to ambiguity limits my ability to learn what God wants to teach me and thus extends the length of time that he "lingers" at the edge. Hmmm...