This is stupid!”, she yelled into her pillow, crying so hard she could barely get a breath. “I hate this, why’s it so hard?”, she wept, clenching her pillow, lifting her face just long enough to gasp for a breath, only to let it all out as the tears started pouring again. “She could almost feel the pain in her chest from her heart breaking. She cries out again, begging, “Lord, I need You; I want You. Why aren’t You here? If You are here, why can’t I feel Your presence? I crave it so much! Where are You?! Please, show Yourself to me. I need You.”
This is the testimony of a young woman who couldn’t feel God’s presence. The more I research the idea, the more I find how ‘common’ it is. You’re troubled, so you pray. You’re distressed, so you cry for God to bring you quick relief. But all you hear in reply is silence -- a silence so deafening it drowns out every thought but this: God isn’t listening. Why doesn't God seem so distant when we need Him most? I have studied this. And, I’m here to tell you, I have no idea aside from, He’s God. I search for an answer to this question just as much as anyone. All I find is that you can’t rely on your feelings, which is what I often tend to do. I remind myself of this often. The Bible say’s our heart is deceitful, can deceive itself, and cannot be trusted. Just because you feel one way doesn’t change the truth. I heard it put this way before. Say, you were in the woods, and all of the sudden a bear noticed you. You try to walk away slowly, but to no avail. The bear is now charging full speed toward you, and he looks hungry. Your adrenaline is pumping, your heart is racing, and you are running as fast as your legs will carry you. You just know you’re going to get eaten alive. In the midst of the mad bear chase, you stumble upon a cave. You, of course, run into it, and barricade the door with large stones which the bear is unable to break through. In the darkness, you huddle in the corner of the back wall, still freaking out that the bear is going to get you. Now, think about it, you KNOW you’re safe, and the bear cannot get you. But your heart is telling you otherwise. Your emotions are still on full speed, telling you that you’re going to die, and they’ll probably stay that way for the next couple hours, or weeks, depending on who you are. This simply proves how you cannot trust your emotions. During the silence, when you can’t sense His presence; when it’s hard to pray and read your Bible, but you continue to do it, getting nothing; when your prayers seem to go no higher than the ceiling, all you can do is hold to what He has proven to you in the past, and what He has promised in His Word. “Though I’m down and His face seems hidden, He’s still listening’ To my every prayer. Soon the storm’ll pass, And I’ll find Him waiting. For all the time, He was right there.” -anonymous This. This is the greatest comfort we have. Read on. Mark 11.22”And Jesus answering said unto them, Have faith in God.” 2 Corinthians 5.7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Hebrews 10.23 “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).” Deuteronomy 7.9 “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.” Deuteronomy 4.31 “(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.” 1 Kings 8.56 “Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise.” Numbers 23.19 “God is not man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” 2 Timothy 2.13 “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” 2 Peter 3.9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward.” Psalm 9.10 “And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” Psalm 89.34 “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” Isaiah 42.16 “And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in the paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straigh. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.” Psalm 73.23-24 “Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward recieve me to glory.” Isaiah 30.19 “He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.” Jeremiah 29.12 “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.” 1John 5.14-15 “And this is the confidfence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” Isaiah 65.24 “And it shall come to pas, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” Job 22.27 “Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee.” James 5.16 “...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Psalm 55.17 “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” I am going to say, this was 'part one'. I just realized how well these two posts mesh.The next one, will be part two. I just have to say, I have an awesome God; He is very much real to me! Now, part two coming up......
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Lizzy parkerMarriage.
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January 2023
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