Today’s topic is, “What to do when God goes away”. This may seem like a bit of an unusual idea, but hopefully by the end, things will make sense. Before we get into the primary, focused portion of the post, I think we need to make a few notable observations. The first is that God never actually goes away. (Psalm 139, Jeremiah 23:23-24) So what am I saying then, you may ask. I am saying that there are times in life where God is “closer” to us than at other times. Sometimes this may be by our own doing. We find throughout the Bible that when we choose sin, there is distance in our relationship with Him. He doesn’t create this gap, but rather we have, through our choices. Sin originally keeps us from a proper relationship with God. (Colossians 1:21, Ephesians 4:18) Further, sin, in the life of a believer, will also create a distance in the relationship. (Isaiah 59:2) Although this is a topic in and of itself, that is not the focus of today.
Now, let’s limit our focus to the “distance” in the life of an obedient believer. What I am saying is that, once saved, we have a different relationship with God. Through Jesus’ substitutionary death, we are now part of God’s family. (Galatians 3:26; 4:5-6) As such, we are no longer enemies of God, and this closes the largest gap. Then, as we grow in Christ, we bring ourselves closer to Him in that relationship, and He comes closer to us. (James 4:8) So, there should be a constant “narrowing” of the gap in our relationship with Him as we grow. This is part of “sanctification”, which is the fancy word for us becoming more like Jesus Christ as we grow. This is all part of the normal Christian growth process and not the topic of which I am speaking about today.
Today I want to consider the reality that there can be times in our lives where God is “extra close”. These times are typically times of need. Many know Psalm 23 where God walks with us through “the valley of the shadow of death”. God promised to give us the words to speak at difficult times in Mark 13:11, Matthew 10:19, and Luke12:11. These seem to be “supernatural” or abnormal times in life where God is closer to the believer. Maybe just words aren’t enough, and we need examples. I am talking about the angel of the Lord with Daniel in the lion’s den; One, who looked like the Son of God in the fiery furnace with Daniel’s three friends; Peter walking on water with Jesus; Peter being led out of prison as the early church prayed; a pillar of fire and cloud that led the Jews; the parting of the Red Sea and Jordan; Moses at the burning bush; Elijah calling down fire from heaven to consume the wet sacrifice on his alter; finally, consider Jesus himself being down here on earth, walking with his disciples, doing miracles, and preaching the good news of salvation through Him. These are a few of the examples that pop up in my mind. They are times of unique closeness to God, perhaps a small taste of what heaven will be like. Yet, as amazing as those times were, they were brief.
We felt that God was very close to us as we passed through our deep waters. (Isaiah 43:2) While in the hospital, exhausted and our hearts broken, He was there with us in a unique way. He was strengthening us. He was comforting us, and He was guiding our steps. Despite the immeasurable difficulties, stress, and pressure, He was with us, helping us “know” what to do. It was an amazing time in which His “presence” was felt, and the gap in our relationship seemed to almost close entirely. He was with us, as He said that He would be. A day or so after Hannah’s passing, we ran across a retired Pastor, a senior saint, who felt that he needed to encourage us. He told us everything that we already knew, and although it is good to remind others of God’s promises during difficult times, in this situation, we felt the presence of the Lord so very closely, it was like I wanted to stop him and say, “Please stop talking and listen to what God has done.” We did not need his words of reminder. They seemed incredibly empty, in the sense that we had already experienced God in this, and mere words seemed hollow. Does a wife need someone else to tell her about her wedding day? No way! She was there! She lived it!
Although we did experience God’s special closeness to us during that time, like with all the others, as time goes on, life begins to go back to “normal”. Moses needed to put a bag on His head after getting the ten commandments from God, but the radiance faded. Daniel got out of the lion’s den and went back to his life. The “Son of God” presumably did not come out of the fiery furnace with Daniel’s friends because the king did not address Him. Peter had to get back into the boat. Later, the angel left Peter out in the street in front of the prison. Elijah got a threat against his life and ran away to the wilderness. The disciples, after having their hearts crushed at Jesus’ crucifixion, saw Him alive and raised from the dead! Their hearts must have been bursting out of their chests with anticipation, excitement, and wonder, but then the unthinkable happened, He left them, at His ascension. It was all so unreal that they just stared up into the sky until two angels came and told them to stop looking, and that He would return in the same manner in which He left.
So, what happens now? First, yes, there is disappointment as the relationship returns to the new “normal”. We wish that His presence would remain as strong in us as it was in those days, but that’s not how it works. Hannah gets to enjoy that kind of relationship now, but not us, not yet. So, what do we do when God “goes away” and life returns back to normal? The answer is simple, WE CONTINUE ON! We continue on in what He has called us to do. Perhaps best put by Paul in his letter to Timothy; when God goes away after these special times, we “continue in the things that we have learned and believe”. (II Timothy 3:14) This is for all of us, today, we need to continue on! Do right, breathe, take small steps, and keep moving forward.
We are blessed
Hannah Helps 