We all have those times where we feel forgotten by God. We ask Him questions that begin with “Why?” We struggle to pray and read His Word. We meditate on all the things that have gone wrong and are going wrong in our lives. We can’t think of anything good when we think about our circumstances. We imagine all the amazing ways that God could possibly answer our prayers and yet none of them appear to come to fruition.
In times of deep distress we feel totally out of control. We see the world and those in it as enemies. Even our closest friends and relatives appear powerless to do anything for us. We often lose all hope of things in our lives ever becoming good again.
After reading Deuteronomy 31, I was impacted by how faithful God is. Moses relates to the Israelites what the Lord has told him. Moses told them how he was not going any further and that the Lord had appointed Joshua to take them from here. He describes how the Lord will go before them, destroy the nations and give them possession of the land. He tells them not to be afraid because God will never leave them or forsake them.
Most of us are familiar with the experience of doubting God. Sometimes this doubt is simply a temporary passing of questions when difficult circumstances arise; at other times doubt takes hold of our hearts for reasons known or not known, but yet we cannot shake that awful feeling of doubting God.
I love history, especially military history. I have studied World War II since I was nine. The problem with studying the history of war is that I can never fully understand the destruction and devastation that war brings. I see the images of Russia, Europe, and Britain that depict the ruins. I can see the devastation in the buildings, look at the statistics, but never fully comprehend the horror and brutality that was experienced by the survivors and victims of World War II
I recently joined the women’s Bible study at my church. We are studying Trusting God by Jerry Bridges. It was not very far into the study when he challenged us with a question: “Is it easier to trust God or obey Him?”
What does it mean to find pleasure in God? We are not to seek pleasure in ourselves, or in the creation (Rom 1), so what are the pleasures of God? What do they look like? Are they really more pleasurable than the ones I tend to sinfully run to already?
“For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5). As a child, I used to think God was mean. When we read the 10 Commandments in church Sunday mornings, I thought of God exacting revenge on mankind because that was what (in my mind) jealous men did: got angry and started destroying things. This past week I was given to see clearly that God is not a jealous destroyer (only?), but a Lover in relentless pursuit of His Bride.