God, where have you been?
Posted on May 10, 2012 by Servando Navarro, One of Thousands of Performance Coaches on Noomii.
What to do when you feel like God has forgotten about you, precisely when you needed Him the most.
By Servando Navarro, CPC, ACC
“Do not abandon me, Lord, My God, do not go away from me! Hurry to help me, Lord my Savior” (Ps 38:22)
In the darkest hours, when I am overwhelmed by many concerns and troubles, at times, it is not easy to see the helping hand of God in my life. Moreover, there are times when apparently God is gone, as though He were not there for me anymore. Nothing disquiets my heart more than the sense of God’s absence or silence. It is like walking across a limitless dessert in darkness with no one by your side. My soul longs for God and His salvation, yet I don’t find Him. I feel like if I had been left behind, and time seems to pass slower. But, just like in a physical dessert, there are many threatening illusions that might trick the heart to know the truth. For, I believe, the truth is that I am never alone. I am never left behind. When sorrows and pains overwhelm me, then is when the Spirit of God is closer to me.
In those moments is when I am really living by faith. When neither see nor feel anything special, I am in “faith mode”. This is a moment of spiritual desolation, and after the momentary complaints and cry outs, I am of the mindset of an athlete: “today’s pain, is tomorrow’s fruit” Living under the uncertainty of blind faith hurts; nonetheless, this pain is fruitful when endure with hope and remembrance of the consolations of old. Anytime I have passed through a period of spiritual desolation –darkness, silence and sense of abandonment– afterwards I find myself stronger and renewed. Just like an athlete who endures the pains and sacrifices of this life setting the mind on the glory of victory. Let me explain my point, sometimes in my morning run I feel different, something is wrong; there is not too much strength in stock; I am putting more effort than usual; even the streets seem to be longer, and my mind starts telling –you are not going to make it; there is no need for you to do this; no one can endure this pain. This is just a trick of my mind, the truth is that there is nothing wrong with your muscles –and the streets are not any longer, that’s for sure–. Fortunately, those glorious runs await a joyous recompense in the short term –I am building up stamina, which eventually enables me to run longer and faster.
Let me put it this way, passing through a spiritual dessert is how we build spiritual stamina, –steadfast faith– which accompanies you the rest of your life, making things, if not easy, at least possible. We grow from within and strengthen our spirit, to the extent that what in the past seemed to be an epic challenge, all of a sudden, is not challenging anymore. The regular fruits of this experience, when sustained by the love of God, are resilience, joy, confidence, solid hope, and compassion towards other under similar circumstances.
Don’t give up! Don’t get trapped by the tricks and illusions of the dessert. God is by your side always, walking each and every step of the journey with you. The fact that you don’t see Him doesn’t mean He is gone. He is never gone; actually, He is way closer to you than your own soul.
Find relieve and comfort in this certainty, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Ps 34:18)
