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David felt the same way. In Psalm 13, we read how he thinks God has turned away from him. It seems as though David has felt this way for some time. He asks, “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?”
I believe we’ve all been there. There are times when we have felt such despair, we have a hard time remembering when things were good in our lives.
When we think about David, a man after God’s own heart, it’s easy to remember the good things he experienced. But then, we consider his trials: Saul trying to kill him and the loss of his son. Things weren’t always good for David.
So what does David do? He turns to God in prayer. He says to God, “ Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;” Instead of giving up and throwing in the towel, he asks God to consider him, to pay attention to him.
Sometimes, it is very difficult to do this. It’s easier to throw our hands in the air and think God doesn’t care.
I guess it depends on the person. Some people are deeply religious and emotional. When they set their expectations high and really expect for something to happen and the outcome is the opposite, they get emotional and crumble and quickly question their faith.
For me, I try to be realistic. If the outcome is not what I want, am I happy? no. but my thoughts are "we tried but it just didn't work out." I'm a big believer in the notion that things happen for a reason and the universe tends to give us challenges that make us better people. It makes me curious to see how things will be down the road... 3 months from now...6 months from now....1 year from now. The universe will create a path for us based on our intentions.
But I also do not believe that God is a genie who "does" things so maybe that also has an impact on how I feel about things.
I felt that way once several decades ago. I fussed and fought with him on it, walked away from him, etc. Time and more reflection showed he was always there, but I needed to go through some living and learning to get matters to sink in deeper.
There's no right or wrong with that when it happens. But the human will have to prevail and rise to a higher level to see the bigger picture. It's for our learning and growth; not God as a bad guy.
Obviously, this is directed at lifelong Christians because as an atheist for the first 30+ years of my life, God played no part at all in it. I was completely oblivious to His presence. After my encounter, He has never left me so I would have to say no to the OP. I would say to those who felt He ever did abandon them, you are wrong. He is permanently with us. WE are the ones who can be oblivious or have unrealistic expectations (something Compwiz seems not to have).
Yes, but that only happened when I let myself believe that God cared about me or my life. Then when the feeling of God's presence was withdrawn, it felt like abandonment.
That taught me that it was a mistake to let myself believe that way in the first place. Both the feeling of God's presence and the subsequent abandonment were only ever in my head.
Yes, but that only happened when I let myself believe that God cared about me or my life. Then when the feeling of God's presence was withdrawn, it felt like abandonment.
That taught me that it was a mistake to let myself believe that way in the first place. Both the feeling of God's presence and the subsequent abandonment were only ever in my head.
The complete irony of it is that the presence of God can only be detected "in your head" by your consciousness. Any absence is completely imaginary based on the unfamiliarity with consciousness-to-consciousness contact, IMO.
Obviously, this is directed at lifelong Christians because as an atheist for the first 30+ years of my life, God played no part at all in it. I was completely oblivious to His presence. After my encounter, He has never left me so I would have to say no to the OP. I would say to those who felt He ever did abandon them, you are wrong. He is permanently with us. WE are the ones who can be oblivious or have unrealistic expectations (something Compwiz seems not to have).
I separated from Christianity nearly 50 years ago, but I did not abandon God, and God did not abandon me.
My belief in God never leaves me alone, and the presence of God in nature just shouts that God is with me. I have seen very bad times in my life, but I realized that is just a part of life, and generally just a side effect of God giving man freewill, and what man has done with it. I have always wondered if God regrets giving man freewill as he looks down upon earth.
I separated from Christianity nearly 50 years ago, but I did not abandon God, and God did not abandon me.
My belief in God never leaves me alone, and the presence of God in nature just shouts that God is with me. I have seen very bad times in my life, but I realized that is just a part of life, and generally just a side effect of God giving man freewill, and what man has done with it. I have always wondered if God regrets giving man freewill as he looks down upon earth.
Free will is the only way love (from us to God) is possible.
David felt the same way. In Psalm 13, we read how he thinks God has turned away from him. It seems as though David has felt this way for some time. He asks, “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?”
I believe we’ve all been there. There are times when we have felt such despair, we have a hard time remembering when things were good in our lives.
When we think about David, a man after God’s own heart, it’s easy to remember the good things he experienced. But then, we consider his trials: Saul trying to kill him and the loss of his son. Things weren’t always good for David.
So what does David do? He turns to God in prayer. He says to God, “ Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;” Instead of giving up and throwing in the towel, he asks God to consider him, to pay attention to him.
Sometimes, it is very difficult to do this. It’s easier to throw our hands in the air and think God doesn’t care.
Your thoughts?
Yes, I have in the past and asked God, "Where are you, Father?" Our feelings are temporary and they are not based in the reality of God always being there for us, even when we may not feel His presence. And sometimes feeling this way causes us to call out to God, seeking Him. I did a study with a sister last year on having a healthy God based self esteem, based on the reality of God's infinite, perfect agape love. God never moves. He is always there. He is everywhere and so we reach out in faith and trust in what He has told us in His word. We have to learn to trust Him even if we don't feel like it. That's why it is called faith. The flesh is weak and we are going to have these feelings at times. It is normal but we don't stay in the feelings. Many times we don't feel like getting up in the morning. We don't feel like going to work. We don't give up because we don't feel like getting up or going to work. We get up and go anyway so I believe that it is the same way with God. We trust Him anyway, even if we don't feel His presence. His presence and love for us are not based on our feelings. We need to decide if we are going to live by faith in Him or are we going to live according to our temporary feelings. Here are notes from a passage from a book that I studied with this sister:
Jesus knows that there will always be a struggle within us to trust and believe what God says over all of the noise and lies in our own head... We can always fall prey to the lies of Satan. Believing God and abiding and resting in Him is the key to transformative change. We have to believe and if we don't believe, we need to ask God to help us believe. God bless.
Last edited by ShanaBrown; 02-23-2024 at 05:22 PM..
The complete irony of it is that the presence of God can only be detected "in your head" by your consciousness. Any absence is completely imaginary based on the unfamiliarity with consciousness-to-consciousness contact, IMO.
That’s not my experience. ^^^
I and others I’ve spoken with experience God through the heart or perhaps it’s the soul. My mind definitely jumps in and participates — but it’s not “in my head” I experience the presence of God. It’s on a different “vibrational” level than thought. (I know that sounds woo woo, but only word that fits for me)
Perhaps by consciousness you are NOT referring to the mind/thinking ability and ego, but to our spirit/soul/heart side — the higher AWARE part of us that recognizes we are not our body/our mind but spirit/soul having the experience of being human.
(This is just MY experience I’m reporting)
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Have you ever felt like God has abandoned you?
