Readings for today: Job 23-27, 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:11, Psalms 41, Proverbs 22:5-6
This past Sunday, my twin daughters stood before their church family and publicly proclaimed their faith in Jesus Christ. It was a beautiful moment. One of my proudest as a dad. As we prepared for this day, we talked a lot about why we believe and what we believe. We talked a lot about what it was they were professing to their brothers and sisters in Christ. Initially, both of them said the same thing. “We are doing this because we want to get closer to God.” Now I love the sentiment. I too long to experience a deep closeness with God. But our feelings and experiences cannot be the foundation of our faith. It must go deeper. Faith is not so much “subjective”as it is “objective.” It is a conscious decision to place our trust in Jesus who lived, died, and rose again on our behalf. It is His faithfulness that matters not our own. It is His completed work on the cross that saves not the emotional high we get at camp or in a worship service. It’s not that those emotional experiences aren’t special. Of course they are! I love it when God feels very close and my experiences of Him are deeply intimate.
But what happens when God feels distant? Absent? What if we can’t find God? Then what happens to our faith? In our reading today, Job describes what it feels like when God seems absent. “Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat!…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, but I do not see him.” (Job 23:3, 8-9) He is crushed by the experience of feeling abandoned by God. He is feeling alone. Anxious. Afraid. And if his faith were based purely on his subjective experience of God, he would chuck the whole thing. Thankfully, however, Job knows God is God. He trusts God to be true to His character and nature and promises even when Job cannot see Him or find Him. “But God knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside…But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does. For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind.” (Job 23:10-11, 13-14)
He will complete what He appoints for me. What a promise! I know far too many people who, at some point in time in their life, raised their hand and prayed the sinners prayer. I know far too many people who publicly proclaimed their faith in Jesus and went down to the waters of baptism. I know far too many people who at one time believed but who now have abandoned their faith. Why? Because they placed their trust in their feelings. They placed their trust in their emotional experiences. Their faith was purely subjective and when the storms of this life began to blow and God seemed distant, their faith failed them. And they walked away.
Thankfully, God never walks away. Even when we are faithless, He is faithful! Even when we don’t feel His presence, He is there. Even when we cannot find Him or see Him, He is holding us in His arms. His promise is to never leave us nor forsake us. In fact, one of the many names for Jesus in the Scriptures is Emmanuel which means, “God with us.” Maybe you find yourself struggling this morning like Job. Maybe you feel like God is distant or absent from your life. Maybe you find yourself wrestling this morning like Jacob. Maybe you feel like God is punishing you or you are feeling the weight of His judgment. Maybe you find yourself confused this morning like Moses. You know God has placed a call on your life but you have no idea how it will come to pass. Maybe you find yourself angry this morning like David. You look around at all the evil and injustice in the world and you cannot imagine how God could ever let such things happen. These emotions are strong. These feelings are real. But rather than let them draw you away from God, let them lead you right back to the cross. Right back to the place where God Himself suffered and died. Right back to the place where God revealed Himself in all His tragic splendor all for love of His ruined creation. Let the objective reality of His death and resurrection renew your faith. Restore your belief. Re-establish your trust. No matter what we think or feel, God remains God. And He will bring to completion the good work He began in you!
Readings for tomorrow: Job 28-30, 2 Corinthians 2:12-17, Psalms 42, Proverbs 22:7