Day#14 What on Earth am I here for?
When God seems distant
God is real no matter how u FEEL
The deepest level worship is praising spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting him when tempted, and loving him when he seems distant.
Friendships are often tested by separation and silence. In ur friendship with God, u wont always feel his presence. There will he times of closeness and times of distance. In ur relationship with God, it will swing from side to side. This is when worship is difficult.
To mature ur friendship, God tests it with seeming silence. You may wake up one morning and all ur spiritual feelings are gone. In utter desperation, u cry out, "whats wrong with me?"
Truth is, there is nothing wrong with u!! This is a normal part of testing and maturing ur friendship with God. Every Christian goes thru it atleast once, and usually several times. Its painful, but absolutely vital for development of ur faith.
When god seems distant, u may think hes angry or disciplining u for some sin. Fact is, sin does disconnect us from intimate fellowship with God, but often this feeling of abandonment has nothing to do with sin. Its a test of faith- one we all must face: will u continue to love, trust, obey, and worship God, even when u have no sense of his presence in ur life?
When ur a baby Christian, God gives u a lot of confirming emotions and often answers the most immature, self centered prayers- so u will know he exists!! But, as u grow, he weans u off of these dependencies.
How do u praise God when u dont understand whats happening in ur life and God is silent? How do u stay connected in a crisis without communication? How do u keep ur eyes on jesus when they are full of tears?
1) Tell God exactly how u feel. Be honest!! Cry out:
"Why is this to happen to me?"
"If u love me, help me!"
"Please God, take this pain away, i dont know how much more of this I can take"
Whatever ur feeling, say it.. Trust me, he can take it! He wants to help u.. He might not help right away, but no worries.. in time, u will learn, God does not allow pain without a purpose!
God wants to get us all to a place where we believe in him, where we know he is listening to our prayers, and where we know we can say anything to him and he will STILL LOVE US!
2) Focus on who God is- his unchanging nature. Regardless of how u feel, hang on to God's unchanging character:
"God is good"
"He loves me"
"He's for me"
"He know and cares about what im going through"
"God has a good plan for my life"
Never doubt in the dark, what God said in the LIGHT!
3) Trust God to keep his promises
Realize he is taking u to a deeper level of maturity. Dont be troubled by trouble. Circumstances cannot change the character of God. He is still here for u, even when u dont feel it.
When u feel abandoned by God, yet continue to trust him, u worship him in the deepest way!!!
3) Remember what he has already done for u.
Even if God never did anything else for u, he still deserves continual praise for rest of ur life because of what Jesus did for u on the cross!
Created 3 months ago
