Father God, we need you this day, just as every other day that we live. We thank you that you have woken those of us up to serve you once again, though many of us desire to be with you already. For in imperfect, it is difficult to serve the perfect. Daily, we grow weary and want to serve you, but find ourselves lacking. Oh, how great is Your grace and how greatly You are to be praised! We pray for those who are suffering for Christ's name, that you would comfort them and Your mighty hand would be in control. We pray for those who are joyful, that they would remain so as long as You ordain. We ask that your will be done, and that our will aligns with Yours. In Jesus name, Amen.
Have you ever noticed that sometimes it doesn't seem like God is with you? I'm sure you have, every Christian experiences doubts or times of trouble where it seems as though God has completely abandoned you. My question is why does it feel so much like God has indeed abandoned us when the Bible tells us the opposite, that he is always near?
When I ask myself this question, I began to wonder why I asked it. Let me elaborate. Think of David in the Lion's Den, a popular story that every baby Christian hears in sunday school. Most Christians have heard it so many times that it has almost lost its' effect on us at all. Our sunday school teacher says "David got thrown in the Lion's den" and we think, "eh, don't worry, he'll be fine". But, I guarantee you this is not what Daniel was thinking when he got thrown into the Lion's den, what better time for him to think he had been abandoned by God than right before he was supposed to die? We know Daniel remained faithful, but I don't doubt there was at least a little fear on his part. Or what of Joseph? The man who lived as a slave, lived in prison, and none of the things he went through had to do with any wrong on his part. Most, if not all, the suffering he experienced in his life were the direct result of someone else's sin. Do you think Joseph was fearful sometimes? Doubted sometimes? Yes, I think he did. For he is only a man, the only thing that kept him faithful was God next to him. And what about Paul? Peter? Stephen? What about these men who ended up being martyred for Christ? Do you think they were ever fearful at all, or depressed? I don't think they doubted because of the solid evidence of Christ's resurrection that they experienced first hand, but I'm sure they had other difficulties. Paul talks of a thorn in his flesh that he prayed to God three times and asked that it be removed, and God said no.
There is a huge set of Christian's and Jews who have suffered greatly for there faith and who have somehow persevered through it. The problem with the question "why doesn't it feel like God's near by when I'm suffering" is that it's focus is on the wrong thing. Why doesn't it feel like God is near by? Because it's suffering! Suffering, by definition is hard and can cause doubts, depression, and all these things. We have trouble feeling the presence of God when we are suffering because we are suffering. Suffering is not a natural thing that humans are meant to go through, it is the result of a fallen world, and therefore it is even harder to see God when this unnatural event occurs.
How then do we know that God is with us when we go through our sufferings? We know God is with us when we have endured the sufferings and come out stronger in our faith. If this has happened to you during your sufferings, God was surely with you. No man can suffer on his own and remain faithful to God, that is only by the power of God that such a thing happens. Thank God for your sufferings, because when he is with you through them, you will come out a stronger Christian.
"Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? 'Father save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." - John 12:27-28a
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