Friends For The Journey

Friday, June 01, 2007

Hi friends,

Deb and I arrived in Cleveland yesterday on our way to visit my parents on their family farm. We will be back in Miami on Wed. Anybody up for Duffy’s next Thurs.?

Last year (August 2005 through May 2006) was probably the darkest time of our lives. We received the diagnosis that Debbie had stage 4 breast cancer. She went through months of chemotherapy…and then, in a bizarre incident with a pit bull, she passed out and fell on concrete, injuring her ribs, shoulder and badly bruising her face. During this same period of time, Ruth’s back progressively became worse, until I was pushing her around in a wheel chair. She eventually had back surgery from which she required months of recovery. While all of this was going on, I did research trips to Brazil and Colombia, and wrote my thesis.

We had a choice to make, or at least I did. I could have become angry with God in the middle of the darkness, or I could trust him, even when I did not understand. I made the second choice (although there were moments!). We worshipped him but trusting him through the darkness…and he brought us through to the other side!

Here is a brief summary of chapter 14, “When God Seems Distant”

Let me know if any of you want to get together next week.

“The Lord has hidden himself from his people, but I trust him and place my hope in him” (Isaiah 8:17).

God is real, no matter how you feel.

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.

All friendships all often tested by occasional separation and silence—there are times of closeness and times of distance. The pendulum will swing from one side to the other – that’s when worship gets difficult.

St. John of the cross called this the “dark night of the soul.” Henri Nouwen called it the “ministry of absence.” God has not abandoned you, this is a testing of your faith. Will you continue to love, trust, obey and worship God, even when you have no sense of his presence or visible evidence of his work in your life?

So how do you worship God when he seems far away? How do you stay connected when he seems silent?

Tell God exactly how you feel. God can handle your doubt, anger, fear, grief, confusion, and questions.

Focus on who God is—his unchanging nature. Always true about God: he is good, he loves me, he is with me, he knows what I’m going through, he cares, and he has a good plan for my life. “Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.”

Trust God to keep his promises. Don’t be troubled about trouble. Circumstances do not change the nature of God. God is still for you, even when you don’t feel it. Despite Job’s terrible circumstances, he affirmed: “Even if God kills me, I will still trust him.” When we feel abandoned by God but we still trust him in spite of our feelings, we worship him in the deepest way.

Remember what God has already done for you. Words cannot describe the darkness of what Jesus went through on our behalf in the crucifixion. Be grateful for all the blessings God has already given you.

Point to Ponder: God is real, no matter how I feel.

Verse to remember: “For God has said, ‘I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.’” (Hebrews 13:5).

Question to consider: How can I stay focused on God’s presence, especially when he feels distant?