Are we on God’s side?

Although the details differ depending on which source you consult, the story is told about President Abraham Lincoln’s response to someone who asked during the Civil War if he thought God was on the Union’s side. Lincoln said, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side. My greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

Following the horrific assassination attempt on July 13, former President Donald Trump addressed the Republican National Convention, “In a certain way, I felt very safe, because I had God on my side.”

He described his escape from serious injury or death as a providential experience. Many Republican leaders echoed his sentiments. One Republican member of the House of Representatives said, “God spared Ronald Reagan for a reason. God spared Donald Trump for a reason. God doesn’t miss.”

Another Republican representative posted a drawing on social media that showed an angel steering Trump away from a bullet. This newspaper published a political cartoon showing Trump standing behind the podium with two hands (supposedly God’s) surrounding his head, protecting him from the bullet. I am grateful that Donald Trump was not killed on July 13. That would have been a tragedy for his family and another stain on our country’s political history. However, I am bothered by the conclusion that the bullet clipping his right ear rather than resulting in a mortal wound was due to direct divine intervention.

If, as the congressman said, “God doesn’t miss,” we need to ask, why did Corey Comperatore, a devoted husband and father, die in the same shooting as he was protecting his family? Why were David Dutch and James Copenhaver grievously wounded by the same shooter? Why didn’t God divinely intervene in their lives on the same stage? Furthermore, drawing from presidential history, why didn’t God spare Abraham Lincoln’s life? Imagine how the history of our country might have been different in the aftermath of the Civil War if Lincoln had not been killed. And what about the other presidents who have been assassinated? James Garfield, William McKinley, and John Kennedy.

One of the hardest questions I had to confront during my 40 years as a pastor was “Why?” Why did the 23 year old commit suicide? Why did the infant die? Why did the son kill his mother and turn the gun on himself? More specifically, the question was either “Why did God let this happen?” or “Why didn’t God keep this from happening?”

As if the question “Why?” were not already hard enough, one can cite stories of people who are healed, of children who do survive, of “near misses” with death.

While I firmly believe that God is always with us, I suggest we should be more humble in drawing conclusions about whose side God is on.

Echoing President Lincoln’s response during the Civil War, one writer has said, “God does not have to choose sides. We do. The question is: Are we on God’s side? We are invited to come alongside God, not the other way around. It’s as simple and complicated as that.”

Philip Gladden lives in Wallace. He can be reached at gladdenphilip620@gmail.com.