- When God Seems Distant
- When God Seems Distant (continued)
Those of you who know me probably know that I love watching old movies. I’m talking about movies from the 1930s through the 1950s. I’m also one of the few people who like watching silent movies. I know, I know, you probably think that’s strange, but just think about what it took for those filmmakers to tell a story with no sound other than a piano or organ in the local theater. (If you want to try a silent movie, check out either “Intolerance” or “The Big Parade,” both classics.)
“Silent,” though, is not always a good thing. Have you ever experienced a time in your life when it felt like God was silent? You were desperate for guidance from God, but there was none. You were struggling, and it felt like God had left you on your own.
I’ve gone through one of those times. I needed direction from God, and I needed to know he was with me, but all I got was silence and the feeling that I’d been abandoned. I was reading my Bible, praying, and doing everything I thought I was supposed to do, but it felt like I was talking to a wall. There was no response from God, no great miraculous uplifting of my soul. It was as if he wasn’t even there. No matter what I did, I felt spiritually empty, and everything in my life felt meaningless.
All because God was silent.
So what can we do in that situation? When things go wrong, we always want action steps to solve the problem. So how do I fix this? The truth is you can’t fix a situation like this, but there are things you can do while you’re in the middle of it.
First, and this is what I did, keep pursuing God.
Keep doing all the things you already know to do. Keep reading your Bible every day. Keep praying daily and throughout each day. Keep going to church. Keep striving for holiness in your life. These are things you already know, so don’t give up on them. Listen to these words of David:
You have said, “Seek my face.” My heart says to you, “Your face, Lord, do I seek.” Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!” (Psalm 27:8–9)
I prayed that prayer over and over again. Pursue God aggressively. No matter what you feel, the truth is that God loves you.
Remember when Jesus was in the boat during the storm? The disciples asked the same question we sometimes ask:
But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38)
“Do you not care?” Have you ever asked God, “Don’t you even care?” It may not feel like it at the time, but he does care. More than you can possibly comprehend. So keep pursuing God, bring everything to him, be obedient to him, and know that he’s there to calm any storm you’re facing — in his time.
Another thing you can do in times when God feels distant is to keep trusting God. And not just mouthing the words, but choosing to trust him even in difficult times like this.
I can only speak for myself, but I had to choose daily to keep trusting God. It felt like God was absent, but I spent weeks choosing to believe that regardless of how I felt, God was with me.
This isn’t easy. When you’re in darkness, you can’t just turn on faith like a light switch. You have to fight for it. You have to rally everything in you and make your stand that on this day, at this hour, I choose to believe that God is with me and that he loves me.
That’s possible because of the things you learned in the good times. Bad times aren’t great for learning new things. They’re the time to cling to what you already know, and here are some things that we already know:
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. (Psalm 34:17)
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. (Psalm 9:12b)
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
“I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20)
When I was fighting through this, I wasn’t fighting for God’s presence. The location of God was never the issue. He had never left. I was fighting and praying and begging for God to let me feel his presence, and in the meantime, I was choosing to trust in his presence. Sometimes that’s all you can do. Lean into him and trust him.
So in those times when it feels like God is absent or silent, keep pursuing him with all your strength, and choose to trust him despite how you feel.
More to come…