Where Was God When My World Fell Apart?

Where Was God When My World Fell Apart?

How do people find hope in the darkest times? This conversation between host Nancy Sabato and Pastor Jay McCarl leans straight into that question, without flinching from the raw pain that often sits behind it.

Jay talks about standing beside people whose worlds have just collapsed: the daughter gripping her dying father’s foot in ICU, the husband asking bitterly, “Where was God in this today?” Rather than offering quick answers, he explains why the first response often needs to be simple honesty and presence. When the furious daughter cried, “Pastor Jay, this is all wrong,” he answered, “Yes, it is.

It ought to have been otherwise,” and that honest agreement opened the door to a deeper conversation. You’ll hear Jay’s perspective on a “fallen world” and why, in his view, tragedy points to how things were meant to be different. He shares how he gently redirects people in shock away from impossible questions in the moment and instead invites them to talk about their loved one, giving their overwhelmed minds something human and tangible to hold.

Jay also turns to scripture, including Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s words, “even if he doesn’t, we will not bow,” as a picture of faith that holds on, even when God doesn’t step in the way we’d hope. He describes God’s presence showing up through casseroles, hospice help, quiet friends on the sofa, and the simple ministry of just sitting in silence: “If you’ve got nothing to say, don’t say it.

Just be there.” For anyone wrestling with grief, anger at God, or feeling unable to pray, this conversation offers space to rage, to question, and to consider whether, as Jay says, “God is there. And he can take it.” What might it change for you to believe you’re not facing the worst moments of life on your own?