THE PRESENCE OF GOD
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
I cannot keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. My bitter soul must complain.
Job 7:11 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
What do you do when you can’t feel the presence of God?
There is a big difference between God’s omnipresence and the manifest presence. It is a fact that God is present everywhere all the time—that is His omnipresence. But then there is the feeling we get when we are aware of the presence of God. This is the manifest presence of God.
As followers of Christ, we live by faith and not feeling—but it really is nice to have the feelings. It is great when we enjoy a time of prayer or worship and have a fresh sense of God’s presence. Those moments are awesome.
But what about those times when we have no sense of God’s presence? How do you praise God when you don't understand what's happening in your life and God is silent? How do you stay connected in a crisis without communication? How do you keep your eyes on Jesus when they're full of tears?
Job is a great example of someone who had a very bad time in life and couldn’t sense the presence of God. Job was a wealthy man with a great family—and then everything caved in on Job. He lost everything he owned including his children. Then he also lost his health.
Job cried out and expressed his anguish and frustration. He didn’t resort to cliches—he complained to God.
If you read some of the Psalms you will discover there were times when David complained to God as well. And he was the guy called a “man after God’s own heart.”
God has big shoulders. He can handle our hurt feelings and frustrations. It is okay to admit you are frustrated and confused. It is okay to admit you have anger and bitterness. But it is not okay to be willing to keep all the negative emotions on the inside. Those negative emotions will rob you of a healthy perspective and creative a narrative that will emotionally sink your soul.
We can choose the narrative we want to believe. We can choose to declare faith in God when we don’t feel His presence or understand how He is working. We can trust God’s love and concern.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit help me to have faith in Your love and concern. Help me to properly verbalize my hurts, anger, and bitterness but not to allow these negative emotions to control my life. I refuse to live as an angry, bitter person.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”
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