As is my habit, I got up this morning, buttered some toast, made a cup of coffee and did my morning Bible reading. It is Sunday. It slipped up on me……again. And I had nothing for today’s blog. So, I laid back and quietly listened……..nothing. I sensed that, even though it is cold, I should go for a walk. Maybe there was something for me there. It is a cold, dry, cloudless night. The stars are spectacular……especially Orion. I walked…… I listened…….still nothing. My dog Jet was with me. I decided to build a fire in the fire pit. But first, I went back into the house…….just for a minute.
I told Jet, “stay……wait……I’ll be right back”……and I left him standing there…….out in the cold……alone. He was puzzled……sad……maybe even disappointed. He didn’t understand. He probably felt abandoned.
Just like me…….when I find myself in a spiritual “dry patch”.
And I think that this is the message for today. Sometimes God just walks away…….without any explanation…….without any reason that we can detect. Sometimes, God just leaves us alone. We are confused, sad, disappointed. We feel abandoned. Some of us turn away from God. We say, “he wasn’t there for me when I needed him……I’ll show him “.
The Bible spends a lot of ink on the presence of God…..on the times when he acts with us……for us. There is very little ink spent on the times when he just goes away. Jesus often went away to pray and meditate. He left his disciples to fend for themselves. Ever wonder how they felt? The closest relationship in the Bible was between Jesus and his father. Yet, even with Jesus…….in his greatest moment of need…….during the crucifixion…..God walked away.
But, here’s the thing:
I came back. I kept my promise. And Jet and I enjoyed the fire……and the beautiful night sky…….and each other.
God always comes back to his people. Even when he lets us sit out in the cold and dark for a while. We don’t understand the why. We don’t know the timing. We don’t have a clue as to what he was doing while he was away. Those things are not for us to know. What is required of us…….is to stay……to wait……until he returns. This calls for trust and faith. God asks that I be as trusting and faithful as Jet. That is my job.
Sometimes God speaks……..even in the silence.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
Psalm 22:1-2, ESV
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Mathew 27:46 ESV