Day 14: When God seems distant

Isaiah 8: 17 –

“And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth His face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for Him.”

God is real. No matter how I feel.                                                                  

When we are placed in a happy situation it is easier to praise God, to worship Him and to thank Him when we have good health, friends, family, shelter and food. But circumstances aren’t always pleasant. How do we worship God when things change, when you are no longer in that happy situation and when God seems a million miles away?

The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting Him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving Him when He seems distant.

Friendships are often tested by separation and silence; you are divided by physical distance of you are unable to talk. In your friendship with God, you won’t always feel close to Him.

“Any relationship involves times of closeness and times of distance, and in a relationship with God, no matter how intimate, the pendulum will swing from one side to the other.” Philip Yancey

This is when worship gets difficult.

To mature your friendship, God will test it with periods of seeming separation-times when it feels as if he has abandoned of forgotten you. God feels a million miles away. Some describe this period as days of spiritual dryness, doubt, and estrangement from God as “the dark night of the soul.” Henri Nouwen called them “the ministry of absence” A.W. Tozer called them “the ministry of the night.” Others refer it to “the winter of the heart.”

Often as you read throughout the Book of Psalms you will find David asking God; “Why have you forsaken me? Why do you ignore my cries for help? Why do you seem so distant?” But God had never really left David. God promised that “He will never leave us, nor forsake us” that is not the same as “you will always feel my presence”. That’s why regardless of us being in tune, sometimes we find that God is missing in action from our lives and we often wonder what we did wrong. But a friendship is a two-way thing, and sometimes you just have to distance yourself from everyone and your real friends are the ones that will come to you regardless of you being distant. That is the test of friendship, real friends prove themselves. Throughout this “winter of the heart”, be reminded that God is testing you to see whether you really meant what you said when you could feel His presence; and whether you will stay true to your words and your love for Him, even though He seems so distant from you.

“You wake up one morning and all your spiritual feelings are gone. You pray, but nothing happens. You rebuke the devil, but it doesn’t change everything. You go thorough spiritual exercises … you have your friends to pray for … you confess every sin, you can imagine, then go around asking for forgiveness of everyone you know. You fast … still nothing. You begin to wonder how long this spiritual gloom might last. Days? Weeks? Months? Will it ever end? It feels as if your prayers simply bounce off the ceiling. In utter desperation, you cry out, ‘What’s the matter with me?’” (Floyd McClung)

But the truth is, there is nothing wrong with you! It is a normal part of testing and maturing in your relationship with God. Every Christian goes through this at least once, and usually several times. It is painful, confusing and upsetting, but it is absolutely vital for the development of your faith. Take Job for example. Even when he could not feel the presence of God, nor could he see, he still hung on to hope that God was with him.

When God seems distant, we often think its because we did something wrong; that He is angry with us, or disciplining us for some sin. But often this feeling of abandonment from God has nothing to do with sin. It is a test of faith – one we all must face to prove our love for God: will we love, trust, obey and worship God when He cannot seem to be found in our lives?

The most common mistake Christian’s make in worship today is seeking an experience rather than seeking God. They look for a feeling, and if it happens they conclude that they worshiped. But in fact, God removes our feelings so we don’t depend on them.

During the early stages of our Christian walk, God gives much confirmation of His presence through emotions, He often answers the most immature and self-centred prayers. But as we grow in faith, He weans us of these dependencies.

God’s omnipresence and the manifestation of  His presence are two different things. One is a fact, and the other is a feeling. God is always present, even when we cannot feel Him, and His presence is too profound to be measured by emotion. Yes, God does want us to sense His presences, but He is  more concerned about us trusting Him; especially when cannot feel Him. Faith pleases God, not feelings.

The situations that stretch our faith are the ones when life seems to be falling apart and God is nowhere to be found. This happened to Job. In a single day he lost EVERYTHING – this family, business, health and wealth; and the most discouraging part is that throughout chapter 1-37, God said nothing. How do you praise God when you don’t understand the things that are happening in your life, why they are happening and all the while God is silent? How do you stay connected in a crisis without communication? How do you keep your eyes on Jesus when they’re full of tears?

Or will we be like Job:

“… Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job 1:21

In times like these, tell God exactly how you feel; pour out your hopelessness to God and unload every emotion to God. God is a great God and He can surely handle all your questions and emotions. Admitting our hopelessness is a statement of faith, because we believe in God, we believe that HE will listen to us and we believe that God will allow us to share with Him our deepest feelings and secrets and dreams and HE would still love us.

We must remind ourselves of God’s unchanging nature, regardless of our circumstances and how we feel. The eternal truth about God is that He is love, He loves you and He is with you; He knows what you are going through, he cares about you and he has a good plan for your life.

“Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.” (V. Raymond Edman)

While Job’s life fell apart He praised God for:

·         Being good and loving

·         Being all-powerful

·         Noticing every detail of his life

·         Being in control

·         A plan that will save his life

·         Saving him

God keeps His promises.  Circumstances don’t change God’s character. When you feel abandoned by God yet trust Him regardless of your feelings, you worship Him in the deepest way.

We must remember all that God has already done. Often we feel God has not done much, but God sent His Son to die on the cross for us! Unfortunately we forget the cruel details of the agonizing sacrifice God made on our behalf. Familiarity breeds complacency. Before Christ’s crucifixion, the Son of God was stripped naked, beaten until almost unrecognizable, whipped, scorned and mocked, crowned with thorns and spit on contemptuously. Abused and ridiculed by heartless men, He was treated worse than an animal. Then, nearly unconscious from blood loss, He was forced to drag a cumbersome cross up a hill, was nailed to it, and was left to die the slow, excruciating torture of death by crucifixion. When His blood drained out, hecklers stood by and shouted insults, making fun of Hid pain and challenging His claim to be God.

Next, Jesus took all of mankind’s sin and guilt on Himself, God looked away from that ugly sight, and Jesus cried out in total desperation, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” Jesus could have saved Himself – but then He would not have saved you.

Words cannot describe the darkness of that moment. Why did God allow and endure such evil mistreatment? Why? So we could be spared from eternity in hell, and so we could share in His glory forever.

Jesus gave up everything so I have everything. He died so that I could live forever. That alone is worth all my continual praise and thanks. Never again should I have to wonder that I have to be thankful for.

Point to ponder: God is real, no matter how I feel

Verse:

Hebrews 13:5 – “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Question to consider: How can I stay focused on God’s presence, especially when He feels distant?