{"id":295,"date":"2010-07-13T10:57:22","date_gmt":"2010-07-13T10:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/thinplaces\/2010\/07\/when-god-feels-far-away.html"},"modified":"2010-07-13T10:57:22","modified_gmt":"2010-07-13T10:57:22","slug":"when-god-feels-far-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/2010\/07\/when-god-feels-far-away.html","title":{"rendered":"When God Feels Far Away"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"desert.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, I’ve been in a spiritual slump. A spiritual
\ndesert. Or pick another metaphor to describe what it feels like when God seems
\nfar away.<\/p>\n

Usually, I know why I’m in a place like this. Either I’m
\nwrestling with a big theological question, or I just haven’t had time to talk
\nwith God about anything, or something difficult has happened and I’m upset.
\nThis time around, though, it’s none of the above. <\/p>\n

It’s summertime. I sit on a porch in the morning with some time to myself, and I can glimpse the water
\nof the Long Island Sound. I bring my Bible and journal and cup of tea. It should be ideal for connecting with God. But I simply go
\nthrough the motions of praying and reading Scripture. I listen, but I don’t
\nhear anything. I speak or write, and they feel like empty words. <\/p>\n

And then I remember Psalm 63,<\/a> a psalm that has become my
\ninstruction manual for times like these. It begins with permission to declare
\nthe desert:<\/p>\n

O God, you are my God, <\/i>earnestly I seek you;<\/i><\/p>\n

my soul thirsts for you, <\/i>my body longs for you,<\/i><\/p>\n

in a dry and weary land <\/i>where there is no water.<\/i><\/p>\n

It begins with a statement of the present reality. But then
\nit moves to a memory:<\/p>\n

I have seen you in the
\nsanctuary ?       <\/i><\/p>\n

and beheld your power
\nand your glory.<\/i><\/p>\n

The Psalmist remembers who God has been, the times that were
\nrich and vibrant and emotionally satisfying. And once he remembers who God is,
\neven if he can’t feel God now, the Psalmist can move forward and praise:<\/p>\n

Because your love is
\nbetter than life, ?       <\/i><\/p>\n

my lips will glorify
\nyou.<\/i><\/p>\n

I don’t think anything changed emotionally. I don’t think he
\nhad a vision of God or all his problems were worked out in an instant. But that
\nmemory of who God has been and what God has done was enough to move him
\nforward.<\/p>\n

So here I go, trudging through a dry and weary land, where
\nthere is no water, remembering that this God I love has always been the one to
\nquench my thirst. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, I’ve been in a spiritual slump. A spiritual desert. Or pick another metaphor to describe what it feels like when God seems far away. Usually, I know why I’m in a place like this. 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Two major life experiences have shaped her writing and her faith\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcaring for her mother-in-law as she battled cancer and welcoming her daughter Penny into the world after she was diagnosed at birth with Down syndrome. Both experiences expanded and enriched her understanding of what it means to be human and to receive each and every person as a gift.\u00c2\u00a0 A graduate of Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary, she is the author of Penelope Ayers: A Memoir, and the forthcoming A Good and Perfect Gift (Bethany House). Her essays have appeared in First Things, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Christian Century, ChristianityToday.com, and Bloom, among other online venues.","sameAs":["http:\/\/amyjuliabecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/author\/amyjuliabecker"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/thinplaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}