Day 14 - When God Seems Distant
Saturday, June 19th, 2004
“The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him.” Isaiah 8:17 (TEV)
Rick Warren writes today, “God is real, no matter how you feel.”
He goes on to make a reference to Phil Yancey’s book, “Reaching for the Invisible God.”
Phil writes:
“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.”
I remember back in the late 1970s when I first got involved in the charismatic movement - there was a strong emphasis on being able to feel the experience of the Holy Spirit. Intimacy was cast in terms of joy and peace and feelings of praise and love. Looking back I think that as wonderful as such experiences are, it is dangerous to base a framework of faith on those. Such experiences, and I’ve had a few of them over time, are great bonuses. But I wouldn’t describe them as the measures of my spirituality. I appreciate the reassurances from St John of the Cross and Henri Nouwen and other contemplatives - feeling distant from God is par for the course at times.
I don’t think the feeling of being distant from God is God testing us. It’s more about the way we’re wired psychologically.
Rick’s advice for people feeling distant from God is grounded in the experience of Job’s suffering:
Tell God exactly how you feel. Focus on who God is - his unchanging nature. Trust God to keep his promises. Remember what God has already done for you.
I think also that yesterday’s advice applies here. Sometimes we are left numb by a spirituality culture that just doesn’t cut it. If you’re inspired by works of art and nature and need to respond visually, more sermons about being saved from going to hell may lead to a sense of inner dryness. If you’re an introvert, attending large scale worship services are likely to leave you emotionally stranded.
Another angle is spiritual burnout. Pleasure loses its power when it becomes a matter of routine or obligation. “You must” is one of the biggest turn offs I’ve ever seen in the church.
I appreciate C.S. Lewis writing about God being hidden in “A Grief Observed“.
A Grief Observed, at Amazon.com
Terry Falla writes it as:
Why, in terms of grief and distress,
when there is no light in the window,
do we find a door slammed in our face,
and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside?”
Terry Falla goes on to write:
“Know this, God, know this: if faith were dependent on feelings, if our trust in you were no more than a matter of the mind, we would be done with you, done with you forever.
And hear this God, hear this: if it were not for that man who was friend of the poor and the damned, for that man who healed the sick and gave sight to the blind…
If it were not for that man whom we cursed and crucified, and who is crucified still, for that man bore our griefs and carried our sorrows, and who carries them still…
God, God eternal, God of Jesus, God who said yes to life, his love, his suffering, his death, God of the cross, crucified God, sharing our pain, bearing our sin…
If it were not, O God, for you, for you our lover, you our judge, you our hope, you our friend…
We would be lost.”
Be Our Freedom, Lord, Open Book Publishers, Adelaide, 1994 (Published in USA by Concordia Publishing House)
