So why does God remain silent in our pains and suffering? What is he waiting for? I understand what C.S. Lewis was trying to say here. It seems like in our times of prosperity he's there with us. And if we are Christians then we must not forget to thank him for his blessings. But In our greatest feat we hear nothing, we feel nothing. It's almost like he is sitting there, watching us toss and turn in our sleep, walking through life numb. As Christians we'll cry out for him, look around hoping he'll show up in some sort of way so we can see that he is there. Maybe even hoping for an epiphany, anything to take us our of our monotony. Sometimes in our hardest times he refuses, for whatever reason he makes us suck it up and wait. Waiting is what hurts the most, he doesn't even say "wait for me" he just does nothing so if we're in faith we assume that we are to wait. This is where some people give up on him, waiting to us doesn't feel like we accomplishing anything but sometimes that's exactly what we need.
Also I went through a phase in my life where things just went wrong, ALL THE TIME. I was a believer at the time so I would call to God, pray and seek him but i heard nothing, felt nothing. This went on for 2 years and little by little I just lost my faith. I felt like life had stopped. I lived like that and finally realized that I couldn't do that forever. So I started going back to church, read the Bible, tried so hard to feel God again. To be back in his presence and for him to pull me out of my situation. For months nothing happened, I remember asking God "Why won't you help me? You said ask and you will receive." Nothing, I felt like he was just sitting there in Heaven, watching me in my despair. The thing is I know without a doubt that God is real but at that time it felt like when I prayed I was talking to myself. I felt dumb for talking to myself so I quit praying. I had no idea what he was doing, waiting for something and honestly to this day I still don't know. But during that time I talked to my pastor and I said "I can't feel him, I can't feel God." He said to me "You won't always feel him, you don't have to. Just know that he is there, like he promised." This is when I started feeling hope again, even though he didn't come to me in an epiphany but in human.
Cool. I have learned that the absence of God can prove his power and existence. For example, when you feel so separated from the presence of God you then realize his power and its impact before. Now this is just rational thought,but If something feels absent then that space has been occupied before. To be quite honest, faith seems foolish. But it is the link to the greater love for us; thus necessary. However, lewis states that you don't understand your true faith until your life or something valuable of yours depends on it.
ReplyDeleteEmily, that was awesome that you got so honest. I completely agree with Cress. God is always there, no matter if we can feel Him or not. Actually I was told one time that 95% of the time our feelings fool us. For me, when I can't "feel" God, I find myself in the Word looking for His pormises. I have faith (as Cresss said) that He will come through. I can honestly say today that God has always come through. Maybe not how I wanted Him to, but He did. It's those times in life that our need for God is so desperate that our faith is tested. It's those times that we have to cling to the cross.
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