When God seems Absent

I've started a new habit.

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In the early morning, when I let my black lab outside, I now walk out with him. For a few moments, I stand on my patio, and look up into the dark sky. This blanket of blackness serves as a backdrop to all kinds of artistry in which the grand Painter uses to speak to me. Sometimes the tapestry is full of stars--spectacular! Sometimes it's only the moon--brilliant! And sometimes it's nothing; the fog barricades it all from view.

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The other morning the sky was moonlit, but barely. A layer of fog was traveling by, causing the moon to be there and then, not there. There, and then, not there. Visible and then invisible. Of course, you and I both know the moon was always present, even when it seemed absent.

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Sometimes I need reminding of this in my walk with God. There are times I have complete clarity--body, mind, and spirit. I know what path to take and I feel God's pleasure in it. But then, there are other times when I see nothing, and even feel nothing. (I tend to battle this type of feeling in January and into February.) In this foggy time, is God present or absent? Just like with the image of the moon being hidden behind the cloud, I must remember:

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just because I can't see or feel him, doesn't mean he is not there.

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God's man Job, shows us how to wrestle with this very thing:

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Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. Job 23:8-10

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Notice Job declares both his feeling, "He is not here" and also the truth, "He is working."

Again, he feels this, "I do not see him" BUT at the same time, he declares this, "He knows the way that I take."

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In other words, he might declare, "God, you seem absent, but I know you are present! I will put my hope in you!" And these are the very words my soul spoke to the Master Artist the other morning underneath his foggy moon.

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So friend, remember this...no matter what you feel and don't feel, see and don't see...

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God is present. God is working. God is refining. And God is good.

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