Depression, Prayer, The Search for Answers, Words of Endurance

God, are you avoiding me?
Where are you when I need you?
PSALM 10:1 (THE MESSAGE)

Why is it when we are on the mountaintop we can feel God’s presence but when we are experiencing adversity – the wilderness which seems like a hot desert – a time when we need Him most – He seems to be avoiding us totally. He seems to be nowhere to be found.

On the day of Dave’s comeback game and even in the following game when he broke his arm throwing his career ending pitch, we both felt God’s presence so strongly. We were on the mountaintop and we wanted to bask in His presence forever.

But one year later – after two more surgeries, two separate rounds of radiation, a staph infection and depression – we found ourselves in the wilderness with no way out and God was nowhere to be found. But we learned …

“Looking back, we have learned that the
wilderness is part of the landscape of faith,
and every bit as essential as the mountaintop.
On the mountaintop we are overwhelmed by
God’s presence. In the wilderness we overwhelmed
by His absence. Both places should bring us to
our knees; the one, in utter awe; the other,
in utter dependence.”
(WHEN YOU CAN’T COMEBACK BY DAVE & JAN DRAVECKY)

If you are experiencing adversity – wandering in a wilderness which seems like a hot desert – drop to your knees in utter dependence. The Scripture assures us that God is with us …

But now, God’s Message,
the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
the One who got you started, Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
it won’t be a dead end—
ISAIAH 43:1-2 (THE MESSAGE)

Is He with us in the wilderness? Oh yes! He is not only with you and me everytime we find ourselves in the wilderness but He promises to meet us there and make a road through our desert …

Be alert, be present.
I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,
rivers in the badlands.
ISAIAH 43:19 (THE MESSAGE)

On the journey with you,
Jan Dravecky