WHEN GOD SEEMS FAR AWAY!

Sunday, May 19, 2019

WHEN GOD SEEMS FAR AWAY!

Ps 35:22

O LORD: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me.

Acts 17:25-28

…he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being…

The most difficult times for me are those times when God seems far away. Oh I know, with my mind, that He is everywhere and that He is near, even in my heart, but there are times when I need Him so badly to be within reach. I need to sense His presence and I need to hear his voice. Like a child who pillows his head on his mother’s breast I need to feel His breath on my cheek. Many are the times when my soul cries out to God for the comfort of His presence.

Many are the songs that have been written and sung about our human longing for the divine. “Abide with me” is one and “Nearer my God to Thee” is another of the songs that remind us of the great gulf that sin has now fixed between us and our God. Yet our very soul was made for fellowship with Him as Adam enjoyed in the cool of the evening.

Job deeply felt the absence of God although God was every moment observing his calamity. It may seem cruel to us, but God had set in motion a test for Job that would put Satan, not Job, to open shame. Job was required to remain faithful to an absentee God. So it seems often with us. We feel that we must walk the trail of tears alone, yet God is there and He will arrive just in time.

Ps 56:3

3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.

Dear Lord, I know with my head that Thou art there, but my spirit needs Thee now. Be not far from me. AMEN