Why does God sometimes seem so far away? It can feel like punishment and can turn our attention inward to try and find what we need to do differently. Sometimes we are getting in the way by clinging to a goal or attitude that is causing us pain, but so often it is just the normal nature of our brokenness that does not get better because we get out the magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers trying to extract the "bad thing" in us.
Transcending our feeling of distance from God is a God sized job and no amount of introspection can change this. There is value in the "power of positive thinking" but that can also leave us trying to be our own God...never a comfortable position nor an effective one.
So sometimes we just must endure, trusting God to travel with us. We can practice good spiritual hygiene, just as we do healthy physical hygiene when our body feels crumby. But is an offering and a discipline, not a bribe for God and we should not mistake it for appeasing a bullying god.
Because this is not how God works. God is love, so God always loves us. God never abandons us. And God is bigger than even times of spiritual darkness. God does not "inflict this upon us". God is always God no matter how we feel or what circumstances with which we are dealing.
This speaks to me during such times: "Be still and know that I am God..." from Psalms 46:10. This or another beloved verse can serve as a mantra, a prayer and a comfort as we wait and trust.
Transcending our feeling of distance from God is a God sized job and no amount of introspection can change this. There is value in the "power of positive thinking" but that can also leave us trying to be our own God...never a comfortable position nor an effective one.
So sometimes we just must endure, trusting God to travel with us. We can practice good spiritual hygiene, just as we do healthy physical hygiene when our body feels crumby. But is an offering and a discipline, not a bribe for God and we should not mistake it for appeasing a bullying god.
Because this is not how God works. God is love, so God always loves us. God never abandons us. And God is bigger than even times of spiritual darkness. God does not "inflict this upon us". God is always God no matter how we feel or what circumstances with which we are dealing.
This speaks to me during such times: "Be still and know that I am God..." from Psalms 46:10. This or another beloved verse can serve as a mantra, a prayer and a comfort as we wait and trust.
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