Endurance for the Journey, Featured, Trust
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
PSALM 22:1-2 (NIV)
Most of us can identify with David and his cry of, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We cry out … and God seems silent. He seems so far away. The key word is “seems.” While our feelings tell us He has abandoned us, our faith insists that He would never do any such thing.
A.W. Tozer helped me understand the roles of feelings and faith. He describes feelings as “the play of emotion over the will, a kind of musical accompaniment to the business of living, and while it is indeed most enjoyable to have the band play as we march … it is by no means indispensable. We can work and walk without music, and if we have true faith, we can walk with God without feeling.”
God didn’t forsake me in the silence. He was teaching me … to have a “true faith” that’s unswayed by emotion. At times I have to walk with Him without the pleasure of music so that my faith will deepen. And when the music returns, its melody sounds all the more sweet.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
when troubles of any kind come your way,
consider it an opportunity for great joy.
For you know when your faith is tested,
your endurance has a chance to grow.
So let it grow,
for when your endurance is fully developed,
you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
JAMES 1:2-4 (NLT)
On the journey with you,
Jan Dravecky