I am sure there have been times when you have been puzzled, not knowing what to think, say or do. I can remember such a time vividly. My wife and I were flying back from Texas not long after the 9/11 terror attack on the Twin Towers and we found ourselves sitting next to someone who was clearly agitated. Indeed, not long before we prepared to land, he stood up and fiddled around with something in the cabin locker and then began to rock to and fro in a very disturbed way.

You can imagine the things we began to think. Was he another terrorist? Had he set the timer on a bomb? Was this the way our world would end with a bang not a whimper? Should we talk to the cabin crew? Well in the end, we decided we were probably foolish to think like this. And we clearly were, because after we landed the young man turned to us and apologised. He was a Muslim he said, but he was terrified of flying, especially landing and had been fervently praying to Allah. We smiled a huge smile of relief.

I thought of this little episode the other day when I came across the story of young Kamiyah Mobley who was finally reunited with her biological parents some eighteen years after she had been kidnapped by a woman dressed in a nurses’ smock who claimed the newly-born infant was suffering from a fever.

The story has dominated the news on both sides of the Atlantic. I first heard of it while listening to the BBC World Service and discovered that her biological grandmother had reportedly been told she would experience a miracle that week.

As I reflected on Kamiyah’s tragic story, and the reports that she had broken down in tears and shouted out: “I love you Mom” as her kidnapper was taken into custody, I was reminded just how tempting it is to come up with simple answers and simplistic judgments.

What advice would I give Kamiyah for example? What could I say that would help her with the trauma and the devastation that has inevitably followed the unravelling of a mystery that has gripped so many people for nearly 20 years? And then, how can I answer the question of why did God allow it to go on for so long given the fact that her father says he had hoped and prayed for her return ever since she was abducted? Why no miracle until now? And what about her abductor? How could she remain oblivious to the pain she had caused yet work for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ hospital in Charleston, volunteer in the area for Habitat for Humanity and lead the youth program at a Methodist church?

I have no easy answers, but I do believe that whatever happens in life, confusing, disturbing and painful as may be we can put our trust in the God who revealed Himself fully in the man we know as Jesus of Nazareth. For if the Jesus story is true, then God knows what it is to suffer and to lose a child too. In fact Jesus went even further in suggesting that if you want to know how God feels then just picture a distraught father longing for a long lost son to come home. For that’s how He feels when we continue to live as if He isn’t there or has no relevance for our lives.

Rob James is a Baptist Pastor broadcaster and writer who currently operates as a church and media consultant for the Evangelical Alliance Wales. He is available for preaching and teaching throughout Wales and can be contacted at [email protected]