I felt dry, even after praying and rolling my burdens on to the Lord. I had given each one to Him and thanked Him for taking them and for providing what I need. Yet I still felt down. “I want to drink in Your love today. I open my heart to receive Your love,” I prayed and opened my Bible. Then it happened.

As I began to read the Scriptures, hope started to surface. The passage didn’t seem to have anything to do with my concerns, and yet God used it to meet me. I experienced the mystery of God using His Word to wash, heal, comfort and guide. I love it when that happens.

Do you feel stranded in a spiritual desert? When you have done all you know how to do to connect with God and still feel dry, don’t be dismayed.

For several weeks we have looked at nourishing our souls by establishing good habits and addressing attitude and internal distractions. Now let’s look at tepid feelings.

We know that faith is not the same as seeing, but how important are our feelings in regard to our faith? Feelings matter to us, but they don’t determine reality. Many things, including disappointment, loss, stress, hormones, health, and our past, influence how we feel. In other words your feelings may be saying something about your life but not necessarily much about how God is relating to you.

It is common for those who lacked closeness with their earthly fathers to feel distant from their heavenly Father. Those whose dads were absent or distracted may feel their personal desires don’t matter to God.

Are you one of those who didn’t have a close relationship with your father? Was your father even abusive? That doesn’t have to hinder your relationship with God. God wants to heal and restore that loss with Himself.

Remember, faith pleases God (Heb. 11:6). The disappointments that make it hard to feel God’s closeness can work to strengthen our faith. When our emotions aren’t moving us toward God, the roots of our faith must dig deep to tap the living water. This strengthens our faith and frees us from relying on a flow of fickle feelings.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses … For when I am weak, then I am strong,” (2 Cor. 12:9-10, NIV).

If you don’t feel close to God, don’t get discouraged. Throughout each day practice opening your heart to receive His love. Ask Him to open your eyes to His work in your life. When doubt enters your heart, remember the cross. “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” (Jn. 15:13, NIV).

Blessings,

Please pray for Larry.

He has his second cataract surgery this Tues. He had a bad reaction to the drugs last time. Thanks for your prayers.

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