Distant

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? Psalm 13:1

    Have you ever felt like God is distant?  I’m speaking to those of us who believe in God…the living God of the Bible.  Even though you may have a right theology of who God is, His sovereignty, His power, His majesty have you ever felt like He isn’t there?  Have you ever felt like God has forgotten you?  Even if you have felt like this are you comfortable admitting it?  

    We know that David has a right theology.  We know that David has seen God work countless times throughout his lifetime.  We know David believes in and deeply knows the living God.  How then, could David utter these words?  David felt like God was distant.  David felt like God had forgotten him.  David’s right theology and his amazing experiences couldn’t keep him from this moment where he felt like his God wasn’t there.  He could say the right things and try to convince himself that his feelings weren’t true, but instead David expresses his heart through song.  David allows his true feelings to flow out.  What does this teach us?  It certainly doesn’t teach us that our theology is wrong.  It does, however, teach us that these seasons will come and when they come it’s okay for us to bring ourselves before God.  David didn’t feel as though he needed to his his feelings, even though his emotions ran counter to what he knew to be true.  David could bring himself, emotions and all, before his God knowing that his God is big enough to receive them.  If you are a Christian then you either have or will feel like this at some point and time (and likely you will have multiple seasons like this), and the encouragement here is to bring your emotions before God.  Let Him know how you are feeling.  Plead with Him that this season would end!  Plead with Him for His presence!  

    The beautiful piece about David’s plea in the first half of Psalm 13 is how he ends his Psalm.  David ends, in verses 5-6, by declaring that God is steadfast in His love, is his Savior and is good.  Isn’t that interesting?  David could bring his honest emotions of God’s distance before God and as David cried out to God and let Him know how he was feeling He could end by saying that God is steadfast.  In the end, David’s right theology of God’s constant presence, cured his feelings of God’s distance.  This is why we must never mask our emotion.  We must bring our emotion before God trusting that as we do what we truly know of Him will eventually heal us.  This is what happens for King David and this is what I pray will happen for us as well.  Church, let us cry out and hide nothing from our God, trusting that He will remind us of who He truly is.  

PRAYER OF THE DAY: God, give me the confidence to come to You without masks and to continually seek Your face.