God, are you avoiding me? Where are you when I need you? Psalms 10:1 (The Message)
To borrow words from commentary, “God’s withdrawings are very grievous to his people, especially in times of trouble.”
In sticky situations it’s easy to think that God has abandoned me. It’s a natural outward response. It’s a feeling that even Jesus expressed at his last moments on the cross.
But surely, the one thing God cannot be is absent. His promise is always to remain with us and it is in His nature be at all places outside of time.
Spurgeon unlocks some of the angst we may feel:
“The presence of God is the joy of his people, but any suspicion of his absence is distracting beyond measure. . . . It is not the trouble, but the hiding of our Father’s face, which cuts us to the quick.”
All along, though, He has not hidden His face but my doubt and disobedience has made it appear so. It is often my unbelief that denies His presence as I look at my circumstances nearsightedly.
The sure cure then to these clenching moments of terror when I feel that my Father has left me to fend for myself, is to by simple faith, belief that He is near.
He is always near you and with you; leave Him not alone. You would think it rude to leave a friend alone, who came to visit you: why then must GOD be neglected? Do not then forget Him, but think on Him often, adore Him continually, live and die with Him; this is the glorious employment of a Christian; in a word, this is our profession, if we do not know it we must learn it. – Brother Lawrence
Sixty-six books in a year 