Healing, Loneliness, Pain, Prayer, Words of Endurance
Lost That Feeling? Lost God?
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish;
no one can snatch them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all;
no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.
JOHN 10:27-29 (NIV)
When I was going through my depression, many of my senses and emotions went numb. One of my first senses to go numb was my sense of spirituality – my sense of the presence of God. I could not “feel” God. It felt like there was a cement ceiling between God and me and my prayers would bounce off that cement ceiling every time I tried to pray.
I felt as though God was nowhere to be found. But it was good to know once again that I was not alone in my feelings – King David experienced the same:
Listen, GOD, I’m calling at the top of my lungs:
“Be good to me! Answer me!”
When my heart whispered, “Seek God,”
my whole being replied,
“I’m seeking him!”
Don’t hide from me now!
PSALM 27:7-9 (The Message)
As did the Prophet Jeremiah:
And though I cry and shout,
he has shut out my prayers.
LAMENTATIONS 3:8 (NIV)
As did Job who was blameless and upright:
I shout for help, God, and get nothing, no answer!
I stand to face you in protest, and you give me a blank stare!
JOB 30:20 (The Message)
I was so relieved to have my feelings validated by such great men of God!!!! But even though I felt better about my feelings I still had a serious problem.
The problem? I believed if I could not “feel” God that meant that I had lost my relationship with God. This thought filled me with great fear until I read the top verse, John 10:27-29.
Praise God – Nothing could be further from the Truth! While you or I may lose our “feeling” of God and feel that we have lost God– God the Father and God the Son will never lose us – no one or nothing can snatch us from His hand.
Lost that feeling? Lost God? Then take comfort in knowing that God’s presence and God’s love is not dependent upon our feelings! Be encouraged and know that no matter what your state of mind is, there is nothing that can separate you or me from the love of God.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers, neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us
from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
ROMANS 8:38,39
On the journey with you,
Jan Dravecky
