Ever said that? Have you ever been in the position where it feels as though God has no interest in your life, or in particular your current situation?
I know I have. I’ve had multiple times during my life where despite how earnestly I called out to God, it felt like he was never there. To clarify what I felt. It wasn’t that I felt God was 100 miles away, I felt like he wasn’t interested in me, in my life, or in my current predicament.
Paul the author of Corinthians addresses his struggles with life in 2 Corinthians 11. Paul was doing what he believed God had told him to do, and because of it he had been thrown in jail, beaten up, was at death’s door time after time. He was flogged five times with the 39 lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummelled with rocks once. And on top of that he was shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day.
If Paul was anything like you and I he must have at times — with all of this going on — felt as though God was absent or uninterested in his life. Which would have been justifiable considering all he was going through.
But even with all this madness happening in his life he still writes these words in a letter to a group of Christians in the city of Corinth. His letter reads;
“That’s why we live with such good cheer. You won’t see us drooping our heads or dragging our feet! Cramped conditions here don’t get us down. They only remind us of the spacious living conditions ahead. It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. Do you suppose a few ruts in the road or rocks in the path are going to stop us?”
Paul’s trust was on his firm conviction that God was working, moving, doing something regardless as to whether he could see it, feel it, or not.
So back to the original question... “Have you ever been in the position where it feels like God has no interest in your life or current situation?” I bet you have. Just like I have, and most probably like Paul did. But just because we feel it, doesn’t make it true.
Could it be that God is working in your life and current situation, but you are currently unable to see or feel it?
This is why Paul wrote: It’s what we trust in but don’t yet see that keeps us going. He wrote this because he had a firm conviction and understanding that God was working in his life regardless as to how it felt. And because of this, he — Paul — could keep moving forward with the confidence that God has something in store for him around the corner.
Rob Wiltshire,
Epicentre Church
27°C