When God Seems Far Away – Purpose (Part 3)

Continuing the series “When God Seems Far Away” – what possible GOOD can come from our desert times, from our stuggles?  From those times when God seems so far away?

These times of struggle can serve to:

1.  Discipline You

If you are like me, and like most people, you learn best through your own experiences.

When I was a preschooler, back in the days before outlet covers, my mom told me not to put my finger in the wall outlet.   So why did I sneak over to the outlet when she was out of the room and stick my finger in anyway?  I’m not really sure.  It’s not that I didn’t believe her.  I don’t think I consciously thought, “Nothing bad will happen!”  Maybe I just wanted to put my finger in there because I was 4 years old and that’s what 4 year olds do.  Anyway, I looked over my shoulder to make sure she wasn’t watching, and I stuck my finger in that socket.  And sure enough, I got a nice zap of electricity.  I can’t remember if I ran to her crying, or if I sucked it up and pretended that nothing had happened.

But I seemed drawn to testing it out for myself.  We adults do that too.  We do stuff we shouldn’t, looking over our shoulders to make sure God – or someone who would object to what we’re doing – isn’t nearby, and then we stick our finger in that socket.

ZAP!  It hurt.

And if we’re smart, we decide that wasn’t such a bright idea.  The pain gets our attention.  Hopefully, we then reconsider and change our actions for the right reasons, and not just because it hurt.

But if not?  Well, there’s more pain waiting.

1 Corinthians 10:13  NLT

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”

One definition of “discipline” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character”.

When you are discouraged and at your worst, don’t you just sort of want to curl up in bed and sleep until you feel better again?  Discipline requires you to get up and do the things you need to do, regardless of how you feel.  Believe that God’s promises are true, even if you don’t feel like it.  That is self-discipline.  Sometimes we need a little God-discipline to get us moving.

2.  Bring you Back to the Basics

When things get crazy and you feel overwhelmed, hopeless, and unsure of what to do, it helps to go back to the basics.

If you are facing an overwhelming situation, ask yourself

• How can I define this problem in a sentence or two?
• Is there anything I can do to make it better?
• If there is, what’s the first step?
• If there’s not, what can I do to cope?

You don’t have to figure it all out right now.  But you do have to figure out where you are and which direction you want to go next.

Maybe you need to boil it down to an even more basic level:

• What’s important to me in my life?
• Am I using my time and attention on THOSE things?
• If not, how can I get back on track?

When your faith gets complicated and you have more questions and doubts than answers; do the same thing.  Boil it down to the basics:

• Do you believe God is who He says He is?
• Do you believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be?
• Have you done what you need to do to be saved?

If the answers to those basic questions are “yes”, then sit back, take a deep breath, and stop worrying about the rest.

We can argue with others and with ourselves from now until the end of time about the rest of it.

Jesus was good at boiling things down to the basics.

Matthew 22:36-39

“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”   Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.   A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

When you are facing a paralyzing crisis, boil it down to the basics.

3.  Show you that you Need God

Even when we say that we know we need God, we can get pretty full of ourselves.  We can enjoy success at work, with our family, with our friends, and our heads start to get big.

Our minds know that all our gifts and talents are God-given, but deep down, we’re like, “I’m kind of a big deal.”

And you are a big deal.  But not that kind of a big deal.  And not a bigger deal than anyone else.

I believe that sometimes we go through a crisis to remind us that even though we’re feeling like we’re kind of a big deal, God is the dealer.  And when everything falls apart – which it will – we still need God.

We need God for strength.  For hope.  For direction.  For comfort.  For guidance.

And for a reminder that there’s a bigger picture.

He reminds us that with Him, all things are possible, even dealing with the predicament that we’re in.  That we can be ok no matter what is happening.

Philippians 4:13 NLT 

“For I can do everything through Christ,^[a] who gives me strength.”

Isaiah 41:10   NLT

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

2 Timothy 1:7

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

 4.  Slam you Back onto the Right Track

When tragedy strikes, we usually feel stunned at first.  Like we’ve been knocked up side of the head and aren’t quite sure what just happened.  It takes a minute to get our wits about us again.

People are stubborn.  It usually takes a crisis to make us correct our self-centered, destructive course and get back on the right path.  All those subtle – and some not so subtle – hints that God has been sending you to show you the error of your ways?  Most likely you’ve ignored them.  Or said you’d pay attention and do something about it “later”.

Well, it’s “later” now.  The God-discipline has arrived.

Enjoyed having your cake and eating it too, as the saying goes?  It’s time to put the fork  down.

Sometimes God allows something extremely uncomfortable or embarrassing or life-altering or heart-crushing to happen so that you will be saved from an even greater tragedy down the road you’ve been on.

God will sometimes slam you back to your senses.

Hebrews 11:5-6   The Message

“My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either.  It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.”

 5.  Allow You to Help Other Strugglers Down the Road

If you have kids, you probably remember teaching them to write their names, or ride a bike, or count to 10.  You might have taught your teenager how to drive, or how to hit a tennis ball with topspin, or how to do multiplication tables.

Why were you able to teach them those things?    You were able to teach them those skills because you’d already learned how to do them.   You’d been in their shoes all those years ago, when your mom and dad or someone important in your life taught you.

Same way with life’s challenges and tragedies.  After you’ve suffered a horrific tragedy, you are in a better position than anyone else to comfort and encourage those who are now going through the same kind of thing.

If you’ve sufferance miscarriage, you understand the physical and emotional pain and challenges that someone else going through that will be facing.

You GET IT. 

If you are a cancer survivor, you have an understanding and compassion that those of us who have never been challenged with that illness do not possess.

Those of us who become people helpers often have a background that includes some type of crisis or tragedy or abuse.  The reason is because we KNOW that what we learned in going through our own challenges can help those who are going through tough times now.

We survivors can give other strugglers hope that:

1) they are not the only ones who have ever felt this way

2) it won’t last forever

3) God is still there even if they’re not so sure right now

2 Corinthians 1:4   NLT

“He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.”

6.  Demonstrate that Good can Come from Bad

Romans 8:28  NLT

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

Your attitude about your particular crisis and what happens in the aftermath of that crisis will determine how well your life pans out.  When I say “how well”, I’m not talking about how much money you will make or how many people you will supervise or how big your house will be.

I am talking about whether or not you will be able to view life as a series of blessings or a series of problems.  How joyful and contented you will be.

Take two people.  Both of them have had serious accidents that left them paralyzed from the waist down.  Horrible, terrible tragedies that neither expected, and that kicked them on their rears.  Life would never be the same for either of them.

One person, after a time, started to focus on what he COULD do instead of what he couldn’t.  Sure, he was sad that he couldn’t do some of the things he’d enjoyed in the past.  There were days when he could not find the strength to teach his mind and body new skills.  Some days he was very aware of the things he could no longer do.  But he decided to focus instead on the many things he COULD do.  That he could still have a good, productive, fun life and make a difference.  That people didn’t judge him on whether or not his legs worked like theirs did unless he taught them to treat him that way.

The other person chose to only see the negative side of what happened.  She focused only on what she had lost, what she couldn’t do.  She was angry that God had let this happen to her, just when her whole life was starting to fall into place.  She believed that nothing she could do would ever be as good or satisfying as if she was fully able to use her legs.  And so she sat in her house and felt sorry for herself.

The difference?  The difference was what one person chose to focus on the possibilities and the other person focused on the limitations.

But they both CHOSE. 

We get to choose, every day, how we will view and react to the not-so-great things that happen to us.  Choose to be angry and feel sorry for yourself, or choose to roll with the punches, do what you can, and let the rest be.

Philippians 4:11-13

“I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.  I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Romans 5:3-4  NLV

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient.  And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady.”

James 1:2-4  NIV

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

1 Peter 1:6,7    NLV

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.  These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”

1 Peter 4:12    NLV

“… don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.“

1 Thessalonians 5:18  NLT

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Paul says to be thankful IN all situations, not FOR all situations.  There is always something to be thankful for, no matter what. You may have to search high and low, and look in hidden places.

But if you look, you’ll find it.