Do ever feel like God withdraws from you, that God is not close to you?
You are not alone, the writers of the psalms also felt that way.
Clearly, the people who wrote the bible must have felt it too.
I do not know if God is distant at times, but I do know it feels that way sometimes.
- Do not abandon me, O Lord; do not stay away, my God! Ps 38
- Do not stay away from me! Trouble is near, and there is no one to help. Ps 22
- Do not banish me from your presence; do not take your holy spirit away from me. Ps 51
So how do we manage that? How do we live when God feels distant?
We remember.
When I am feeling distant from God I remember a poem that really made me feel better:
- We remember a moment when He felt so close.
- We remember a liturgy where our spirits sored with the joy of His closeness.
- We remember the bread and the cup overflowing with his presence.
- We remember a song or hymn that touched us deeply.
- We remember a line from the bible that soothed our hearts .
“One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”
He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”
“Our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.”
Saint Augustine (354–430)
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