The Purpose Driven Life, Chapter Fourteen
When God Seems Distant
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The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting Him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving Him when He seems distant.
To mature your friendship, God will test it with periods of seeming separation--times when it feels as if he has abandoned or forgotten you. God has promised repeatedly He will never leave or forsake you. But He has not promised you will always FEEL His presence. In fact, God admits that sometimes He hides His face from His people.
This feeling of abandonment or estrangement is a test of faith--one we all must face. Will you continue to love, trust obey and worship God, even when you have no sense of His presence or visible evidence of His work in your life?
God is always present, even whe you are unaware of Him, and His presence is too profound to be measured by mere emotion.
BIBLE REFERENCES
1 Samuel 13:14
Acts 13:22
Psalm 10:1
Psalm 22:1
Psalm 43:2
Psalm 44:23
Psalm 74:11
Psalm 88:14
Psalm 89:49
Deuteronomy 31:8
Psalm 37:28
John 14:16-18
Hebrews 13:5
Isaiah 45:15
Job 23:8-10
Psalm 51
Ephesians 4:29-30
1 Thessalonians 5:19
Jeremiah 2:32
1 Corinthians 8:12
James 4:4
To mature your friendship, God will test it with periods of seeming separation--times when it feels as if he has abandoned or forgotten you. God has promised repeatedly He will never leave or forsake you. But He has not promised you will always FEEL His presence. In fact, God admits that sometimes He hides His face from His people.
This feeling of abandonment or estrangement is a test of faith--one we all must face. Will you continue to love, trust obey and worship God, even when you have no sense of His presence or visible evidence of His work in your life?
God is always present, even whe you are unaware of Him, and His presence is too profound to be measured by mere emotion.
BIBLE REFERENCES
1 Samuel 13:14
Acts 13:22
Psalm 10:1
Psalm 22:1
Psalm 43:2
Psalm 44:23
Psalm 74:11
Psalm 88:14
Psalm 89:49
Deuteronomy 31:8
Psalm 37:28
John 14:16-18
Hebrews 13:5
Isaiah 45:15
Job 23:8-10
Psalm 51
Ephesians 4:29-30
1 Thessalonians 5:19
Jeremiah 2:32
1 Corinthians 8:12
James 4:4