God Is Real, No Matter How You Feel
By Rick Warren
“The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him.” Isaiah 8:17 (GNT)
It’s easy to worship God when things are going great in your life—when he’s provided food, friends, family, health, and happy situations. But circumstances are not always pleasant. So, how do you worship God then? What do you do when God seems a million miles away?
The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving him when he seems distant.
The writer Philip Yancey once noted, “Any relationship involves times of closeness and times of distance, and in a relationship with God, no matter how intimate, the pendulum will swing from one side to the other.”
That’s when worship gets difficult.
To mature your friendship, God will test it with periods of seeming separation—times when it seems as if he has abandoned or forgotten you. St. John of the Cross referred to these days of spiritual dryness and doubt as “the dark night of the soul.”
King David understood days like these. Even though God called him “a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22 NIV), David sometimes complained about God’s apparent absence:
- “Lord, why are you standing aloof and far away? Why do you hide when I need you the most?” (Psalm 10:1 TLB).
- “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?” (Psalm 22:1 NLT).
- “Why have you abandoned me?” (Psalm 43:2 GNT).
Of course, God hadn’t really left David, and he’ll never leave you. God has promised repeatedly, “I will never leave you; I will never abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5 GNT).
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Unleash the Power of Gratitude in Your Life!
The Bible tells us to “rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 NIV). But it’s not always easy to feel grateful.
That’s why Pastor Rick put together a Bible study called The Power of Gratitude. In it he’ll show you how to stay in God’s will, defeat discouragement, reduce stress, and experience God’s blessings—as you develop the habit of expressing gratitude!
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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