G-d has a thankless job

I would hate to be G-d. Whereas having the power to do pretty much anything must be cool, the job comes with terms and conditions that would make me run a mile – not that I can run a mile. Forget the fact that with the best of intentions, He created a magnificent world and then added humans in His image, that He made sure that it’s sustainable, magnificent, and has both Cape Town and Kruger, but anytime anything goes wrong, He’s the one who takes it on the chin.

He literally can’t catch a break.

Worse than that, even when He realises that we can’t be left to our own devices and help is needed, we don’t acknowledge it. If He decides to stretch out His arm, perform what back in the day would have been called a “modern-day miracle”, He still gets zero credit.

Israel’s pre-emptive attack on Hezbollah last Sunday is case in point. With the terror organisation a mere 15 minutes away from launching a major attack on northern and central Israel, the Israeli airforce hit the launch sites in a blitz compromising more than 100 fighter jets, and in doing so, destroyed a significant part of its capabilities.

G-d received hardly a mention. Which had to have been more than a little frustrating.

It reminded me of a case study used by famous business analyst Rory Sutherland. It’s apparently known that first class mail in the United Kingdom is delivered the next day. According to the internal assessment, the post office was achieving a close to 98% success. Yet people weren’t happy. So they embarked on a campaign to improve this already high number. The improvement was almost negligible, but the strain nearly broke them.

They shouldn’t have bothered. Rather, they should have assessed what the public thought the delivery rate was. Had they done so, they would have noticed that most people thought it was closer to 60%. All they really needed to do was to embark on a marketing campaign that communicated to customers that they were achieving 98%, and everyone would have been happy. Or most people.

Much like the Royal Mail, it’s possible that G-d needs a public relations campaign. When it comes to Israel and the war launched by Hamas on 7 October, there have been numerous examples of events where His outreached hand was active. As horrific as the events were, and as tragic as the consequences remain, it doesn’t take much imagination to picture how real the existential threat to Israel and its citizens has been.

Israel has endured because of G-d, through the Israel Defense Forces and the resilience of her people. It’s natural for a secular media to report on the army, the human aspects, and on politics. And politicians, especially those less connected to religious faith, benefit more from lauding voters than they do from thanking G-d.

Which means that G-d’s public relations is potentially at risk of being neglected. Unless others are prepared to take on the responsibility. These include the religious community in Israel and around the world, observant Christians, and those who see G-d’s hand and His work.

It can’t be easy being G-d. The least we can do is give Him a hand from time to time.