When God Feels Distant (Various Passages)

Thank you for subscribing to the Shepherds Church podcast. This is our Lord's Day Sermon. We pray that as we declare the Word of God that you would be encouraged Strengthened in your faith and that you would catch a greater vision of who Christ is.

May you be blessed in the hearing of God's Word and may the Lord be with you. Well from last week What we learned is that Jesus is going to be leaving his disciples soon he's gonna be Stepping away for a moment and we take that to understand not just That he's going back to heaven, but also that he is going to be going to the cross and to that cross.

He would go then to the grave to wrestle sin and to defeat The sin and curse that keeps us alienated from God. On John 13. We saw that it was dark not just because it was nighttime in the gospel of John.

Darkness is enigmatic or it is idiomatic of separation from God. When we see darkness in John's gospel It tells us that people are confused that they're that they're lost that they're broken. Then it says that men love the darkness rather than the light.

Darkness is judgment in John's gospel and we see that. The Pharisees are living in darkness because they hate Christ. Judas is living in darkness because he betrays Christ. And yet we even see that Jesus was willing to let his disciples for a moment walk through darkness.

To allow them to be confused to allow them to deny him three times to allow them to scatter. Now unlike the world they're not gonna live in darkness forever. But Christ is going to let them for a moment because of his mere good pleasure walk through darkness.

And It's for his purposes and for his glory that he does so we see this in verse 33 of John 13. I said last week that we were closing out John 13, but I tricked you. Verse 33 says my little children. I am with you a little while longer.

You will seek me and as I said to the Jews now, I also say to you where I am going you cannot come. Now obviously this was a unique situation that is it's not something that is repeatable. We are not the disciples.

We are not in the upper room with Jesus. We're not having the the pep talk that he's giving them where he is going to go to the cross in that moment. And they're gonna be left without him in Jerusalem.

We don't live there. We don't we don't know exactly what that moment would have felt like but this passage does have relevance to our life. Because there are moments in our life where we have felt and I don't mean that we have.

That that this is actual where God's presence has been removed from us, but there are moments where we felt like that. Where we felt like we were in the darkness where we felt like God was a million miles away from us.

Where we where we perceived that God was distant where our prayers felt like that. They were banging against the ceiling. We know in the scriptures that God has not left us or forsaken us or abandoned us.

There's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus and yet. Our feelings sometimes are fickle our experiences sometimes are Different than what we have is our reality. The reality is is that Christ dwells with us through his spirit and that there's nowhere high as the heavens are down to the earth.

It's a shield where we can go from his presence and yet we sometimes Though he be perfectly present with us. Have a really hard time perceiving it. Sometimes we don't perceive it at all. Today I want to explore the question.

Why is it that sometimes we feel like God is distant from us? We know that he's not but why is it that sometimes that that's how we feel? When there's times and seasons when it seems like God is unmoved for God is Far away from us that he doesn't hear our prayers.

Why is it that that happens and there are many reasons that I can describe to you on Why this reality occurs? First and foremost, I think our sinfulness. When we sin when we grieve the Holy Spirit of God God chastens us as his children and he allows the goodness of his presence.

To become the judgment of as a mom or as a dad would bring Punishment on their children. Sometimes that is the reason why we feel God is aloof or distant. If you've ever been in the room with an angry spouse you were right beside of them and yet they feel a million miles away.

Sometimes that is the presence of God that we feel. And yet there are other times. When that's not the case now, we're always a sinner. We always are struggling with sin, but there are times when we're doing the same things that we were doing.

We're reading every morning. We're praying we're repenting. We're doing all of the things that we used to do and yet we don't feel it and it feels distant from us now the first thing I would tell you is a Broken thermometer doesn't dictate how hot it is outside a broken clock doesn't dictate what time it is.

It's right twice a day, but then most of the other times it's not God's experience or our experience of God's presence. Does not dictate the truthfulness of God's presence. That's not what we're talking about today.

We are talking about experience. Why do we sometimes feel like we're far away from God? How do we explain that and this question is important to me? Because I've asked myself that question many times.

There be times when I'm praying and it feels like my heart is anxious. Where I feel like that that I'm in a fog or I'm in the darkness even there will be times when I'm reading scripture. And I don't feel close to God.

There are other times. I feel like I'm on the mountain with God. And I don't think I'm the only one who's had different experiences day to day the ebb and flow of your walk with God. Why is that the case?

What I was taught growing up is That your relationship with God it was never said in these terms. But this is the way that I was taught. This is sort of like a quid pro quo. Sort of relationship if I repent of my sins and I do the right things and I read scripture I go to church.

I pray I sing I do all that then God will necessarily give me the joy of his presence and There are many times that that did not line up with my experience and it caused me to have a performance driven faith.

Where I would work and I would work and I would work and I would do everything I could because I believe that God's Presence or my experience of it was dependent upon my effort. Every time God shares his presence with us its grace.

There is never a time that we deserve the experience of his presence and It just doesn't line up with what we see in scripture. For instance think about the man Job. Job was called a righteous man in the beginning of the book.

God himself calls Job a righteous man and yet Job suffered. Job cries out and says God. Why are you far from me? God wasn't far from Job. Job couldn't feel it though. Think about David. There's so many of the Psalms where David saying Lord come back to me.

Do we believe that God abandoned David? No. But David's experience of God felt distant. Look at Jesus himself in the garden. He's praying and he's crying out tears of blood on the cross. He says my god.

My god. Why have you forsaken me? Sometimes God for his own purposes allows us to feel like David or Job where we feel like we're distant from God. Now today I want to share 13 things. Hook your seatbelt.

We're not gonna answer the question why today because I don't think I'm equipped to answer the question why and I don't think scripture really Teaches us exactly why. There are some times where God allows us to experience this over abundance of joy where we're on the mountain top and there's other times where we don't.

I don't want to deal with the question of Why today what I want to deal with the question is how. How should we reflect about our experience of God's presence? How should we think about it? We'll cover six things in that section and Then the second thing I want us to do is when we have a moment like this where we feel like God is far away.

I want you to remember the seven things that we're gonna talk about us. 13 seven things that we're gonna end with. I Think this sermon will be really practical. Because there will be a time where you will feel far from God and I want you to know these 13 things.

I wish someone would have told me these 13 things. So with that let us pray and let us dive in Lord Jesus. We thank you that our feelings don't dictate reality. We thank you that our experience Doesn't define what is actual.

Lord we know that you will never leave us or forsake us. There's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. You haven't dwelled us by your spirit. You live with us because of your omnipresence and you are working out the good for all of those who are called according your purpose.

We know those things and yet sometimes our flesh and our heart fail. Sometimes we experience despair. Sometimes we experience despondency sometimes like Elijah we crowd. Am I the only one? Lord, I pray that today as we reflect upon our frailty and Why we sometimes feel distant from you.

Lord I pray that this would be a great encouragement to your people. Lord, I pray that the tools and The theology that is undergirding this message would inform our hearts in such a way. That when we go through these moments that we would have Biblical ground to stand on to have joy.

Whether we are in tears. Whether the situation that has happened to us is the most painful thing that we've ever walked through. Lord, I pray that what we learn today would cause us to have joy even in the darkest times.

To never be given over to despair. Or do we ask these things in Christ's name? Amen. Why does God sometimes feel distant from our experience? Why are there seasons of spiritual dryness and deadness? Why does this occur?

God's Sovereignty and the Gift of His Presence

Well, the first thing that we should reflect upon is God's providence. God has a right over the experience of his presence. Here's a principle for us to consider God has every right and ability to give and to take away the experience of his presence as he deems appropriate.

When we think about the doctrine of God's sovereignty, we are talking about one of the best and most hopeful and most Beautiful doctrines in Scripture that we tend to chafe at and ignore. We tend to recoil when we think about the sovereignty of God and yet it's the sovereignty of God that causes us to be able to sleep at night.

Sovereignty means God has every right and every ability and every power to accomplish whatever he wills and whatever he wills is what happens. There's nothing that happens outside of God's will. Which means that this is where sovereignty rubs us a little.

Every pain every displeasure every discomfort every situation that you've walked through is not by accident or happenstance and God is not up in heaven saying I Can't believe that happened. Everything that happens is consistent with the will of God for his glory and For your good, even if it doesn't feel like it's good.

Job says this in chapter 23 verse 16. It is God who made my heart fail and The Almighty who has dismayed me. He's saying it's not an accident. God has done this. Look at Jeremiah. He's also a man acquainted with great grief.

He says in Lamentations 3 Verses 2 and 8 he has driven me and made me walk in darkness and not in light. Even when I cry out for help, he shuts out my prayer. These are not verses that you will get on Christmas cards.

These are not verses that you text to your friends just found this encouraging one brother. He shuts out your prayers and yet isn't this the Word of the Lord? This inflicts the sort of inner drama queen within us.

It really Really God? But the question I want to ask us is do we have a cause to be angry? Over verses like this. We have all sinned and all fallen short of the glory of God and I would guarantee I can't make this statement in in full.

But I would say all of us have done that today and God says that when you sin in the day that you do it You will surely die. That means that every one of us who have sinned all of us in this room deserve to die and yet here we are.

To live another day and another day and another day. If we're alive here today God has been exceedingly Unimaginably gracious and if you're saved how much more? We tend to think about the fact that that how unfair it is that God allows people to go to hell.

How unfair is it that they live on this earth and breathe out? Rage against God and he allows them to do it and blesses them. How unfair is it that us who are objects of his wrath rebels who hated God.

By the death of his own son have been brought in. It goes beyond mercy. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you should not have. We should not be saved. It does not belong to us.

There's nothing we could do to earn it. It is only by God crushing his only son. That you and I could experience salvation. When you think about it like that if your salvation is the only good thing that ever happened to you and I mean this if every day of your life is misery if every moment of your existence is futile and painful and awful and Let's say that you lived a hundred and twenty years just to prolong your suffering.

If that is the case You are still more blessed than you could ever possibly imagine. You say, how is that possible? Because for a hundred and twenty years of toil God has rescued you for an eternity of blessings.

It doesn't matter. It does our pain is real but ultimately in light of eternity. It doesn't matter. All of the hurt and the pain in light of eternity, it's light. It's momentary. It's working for us an eternal weight of glory.

And yet When we compare 120 years to an eternity, it's like one grain of sand in a universe of deserts and Yet we think I don't deserve this. What do you deserve brothers and sisters. Eternal Unending Unquenchable hell and God has given you a hundred years 80 years 70 years of Toil here where you have joy and you have some pain, but it's not as hot as hell.

120 years at the most for an eternity of blessings. You are blessed. Even if your salvation is all you ever have. Because if that's all you have you have everything right if you never experience comfort.

If you never experience any other blessing you would be unimaginably blessed. It's my thought here I don't live this way. But it's my thought why am I surprised when God? Sometimes feels distant from my experience.

I should actually be surprised that so many times God is near. Given who I am. Think about it like this if you were a thrice holy perfectly pure. Never lived below your best for a moment. You always won.

You always triumphed. You had flawless productivity across all conceivable reality your accomplishments spanned. Eternally, you never had a thought that was less than perfect. You could not be improved upon.

Why would you want to hang out with you? We have trouble hanging out with people who are better than us. God is infinitely so. Think about the grace that God has given us to persist with us to love us.

To care for us. We should not act when we go through toil or when we feel like God is Distant from us when our experiences and our emotions are out of whack. We should not act like we've been slighted.

We should remember that we've been blessed. We should also remember That God is using all these things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Even though it doesn't feel like it's good to you.

That doesn't mean that it's not good for you. You think about it when you're a two-year-old and you have to take the nasty Disgusting cough medicine and your parents are like it's good for you. Sometimes God will make you drink a bitter cup and it's good for you and It's better for you than your comfort.

It's better for you than making you happy. Think about the kind of people we would be if we were only ever made happy because God is sovereign over all things and Because it's perfect. God is perfectly good in all things and because God is perfectly wise in all things giving us joys and also giving us Sadnesses because of that we can trust him even if we don't understand why we're going through what we're going through right now.

There there are men and women in this room right now who are going through things that are hard that are difficult that are painful that that are that that are weighing on you that make your heart feel like that you're in the that it's in a meat grinder of some sorts and I can look at you and honestly tell you from Scripture that it is for your good even if it hurts brother and sister.

I'm not saying you're gonna enjoy it. You're not sadist, but it's for your good. Have hope in it have joy in it even as you hurt in it. That's the first thing we need to consider. Why does God sometimes feel?

Distant from us because God is sovereign over these things and he's using these things to shape us into the image of his Son and Sometimes distance is better than closeness to accomplish his purposes.

That's the first thing. Second thing is our Quote-unquote righteousness we have to consider that Job the book is Considering that our righteous our our righteousness our obedience and our sanctification do not obligate God to bless us.

We are not Legalist who believe that if we can obey God will accept us. God will bless us. Just because we obey him does not auto magically that is a word Lock-in his presence or cause us to experience more of him.

He's not a vending machine. The book of Job is predicated upon this like I said before Job is said to be righteous. God says Job is righteous. The whole book is this great thought experiment about what does it look like when the righteous people suffer because in the book?

Everybody is under an assumption that righteous people don't suffer. The book of Job is built upon three claims to of truth, but only two of them are true. Number one good people are blessed. Number two wicked or Job is a righteous man.

And then number three God is holy. So Job's friends are coming and saying that God is holy Job. Good people are blessed and because you're not blessed. You must not be righteous. Job is saying no. No.

No, I am righteous and Good people are blessed. Therefore. God must not be holy. He questions God in the book in ways that he has to repent for later. And yet God calls him righteous still God at the end of the book says the truth of the matter.

I am holy. Job is a righteous man and the world doesn't work like you think it does. Because good people aren't always blessed. And because wicked people aren't always experiencing punishment look at people that we know that are the elites of our society who are Desperately wicked people and yet it looks like by all Accounts that they are experiencing great blessing.

The world does not work in The way that we think that it does look at how Job describes his plight. This is Job 23 verses 3 and then verses 8 through 9. He doesn't describe it as the loss of material wealth or the loss of physical health.

He describes it like this. Oh. That I knew where I might find him. That's God. That I might come to his seat. Behold I go forward but he is not there and I go backward but I cannot perceive him when he acts on the left.

I cannot behold him when he turns on the right. I cannot see him. Job is telling us that yeah, I lost my stuff. But the thing that I'm grieving more than anything is I don't feel like God is near. He's dealing with a death.

Not of his stuff not even of his children. He's dealing with a death of his own expectation. He is dealing with the fact that he thought that he was good enough righteous enough. That God would never allow him to walk through pain.

And he's dealing with the death of that expectation that I was righteous and I am walking through pain. That's what Job was dealing with. Where is God in that? Job could not conceive a reality where a man who's pursuing righteousness God would allow him to fall into such travail.

Job at the end of the book had to get a wider view of who God is. When God takes him on a tour of the universe. Versus third chapters 38 through 41 read it. It's incredible. Job tries to repent and God says be quiet for a second.

I'm not done. And then in verse in chapter 42 Job says some of the most beautiful lines in Scripture. I repent. I Don't know what I was talking about. I've spoken about things that are far too beautiful for me to understand.

I Take back everything I said Job and Us need to realize that our righteousness does not Obligate God. Our obedience to Scripture doesn't obligate God our prayer life our fasting. We can't manipulate God and to into giving us the experience that we want.

Sometimes God wants us to go through things that are hard because they're best for us better for us. Every time you go through something that is painful it is for your good. There's never a time where God allow something to happen that is less than perfect in his will that is hard for us because we look at all of the brokenness and we can't conceive of the fact that it could be God using it for good and yet God is so perfect that he can use all of these things for good does use all of these things for good.

Just because we don't see it doesn't mean that it's not true. Remember that God is sovereign and all of these things. Remember that he can take you through any situation and season to turn you and make you and shape you into the man the woman the boy the girl that he wants you to become and One of the most helpful passages that you can say to yourself when you go through pain is Job 13 15 though He slay me.

Yet, I will praise him yet. I will hope in him. That's the sort of attitude of a of a believer that God though you slay me. Though this hurts, I'm not gonna grumble like the Israelites. I'm not gonna complain.

I'm not gonna I'm not gonna become bitter and Frustrated and turn my back on you. I'm gonna hope in you even through the hardship and even through the pain. How difficult I know that that is. How weekly I fail on this but I'm not preaching to you about things that I've mastered.

I'm preaching you what the scriptures say and what and calling all of us to Hope in God even in hardship. The third thing we need to consider. Why does God sometimes feel distant to us? We need to consider past record because we play the comparison game a lot just because God has given a tremendous experience to us in the past or to someone else in the past or even to someone else in The present doesn't mean that God owes us today.

Psalm 44 begins this way. Oh God we have heard with our ears. Our fathers have told us the work that you did in their day in The days of old or if you're my daughter in the olden days. Which to her was like seven years ago, by the way.

For by their own sword They did not possess the land and their own arm did not save them. But your right hand and your arm and the light of your presence is what saved them for you favored them. The psalmist is reminding God of the days of old when things were better when they were doing The things that that God had told them to do and God was doing the things that he promised he would do and everybody was Experiencing great blessing and they're looking at God.

They're saying God. Where are you at with us? Why aren't you blessing us? They say in verse 17. We didn't break your covenant. We obeyed. They're saying in verse 18 in verse 20. We didn't bow our knee to any idols.

We didn't do that. Why are you not giving us the same experience that you gave them and how often do we fall into that? When we look back in our life, maybe when we were first saved and we say man It was wonderful the amount of grace that God was given me the light that he was given me.

The joy that he was given me. Why don't have that joy now? It's because you're expecting a past event that God did Dynamically in your life to be repeated. You're in a sense treating God like he's a vending machine.

Or when you look at someone else's life and you say wow, they've really they're really blessed. I wish I was like them. You're doing what the psalmist here did and you're comparing what? God did in someone else's life and saying that it should be the case in your life and what you're ultimately doing.

This is tough. But what you're ultimately doing is you're saying God your will for my life is not right. Your plan for my life is not best. I know you're infinite and all I Know you're this omniscient guy.

You know everything but you don't know this this is not good for me. I want what so-and-so has. When you think about it that way, it's a pretty pretty arrogant thing to say To God who loves you more than anything.

He's given you Every situation you have for your good. The psalmist cries out you've rejected us as if what we would say and Brought us to dishonor. You do not go out with our armies you've crushed us in the place of jackals and covered us with the shadow of death.

That's what we would say. God, we're doing the same thing that those people did. We're not dishonoring you. We're the good people. We're not doing the things that the world is doing. Why are you allowing us?

It's a dwindle. You know, I think is it interesting in Psalm 44 is God doesn't answer them. He doesn't answer their question. That doesn't mean that we get no answers. We actually do get answers from this passage, but we don't get the one that we're probably looking for.

God doesn't give an answer as to why they're suffering in this passage he doesn't give an answer to why he's pulling back from them and allowing them to become a a a Byword among the nations. He doesn't clarify that what he does clarify.

Is that just because your ancestors experience such and such and such a thing doesn't mean you will. The reason he clarifies that it's because they didn't experience the same thing. What I love about this Is that it doesn't actually undermine God's goodness it reinforces it.

Think about it. God is relational. There's nobody. There's nobody here who actually wants to be married to a robot. Or to have children who are robots you would eventually despise them. Just do this when I say a B and C or I shake this left foot you do that like nobody wants a trained dog for a spouse.

Here we have an example of God dynamically. Interacting with his people. He gives some blessings because they don't deserve it. He gives some Suffering and yeah. At some level in our sin, we all deserved it.

But God is uniquely interacting with his people in non repeatable ways. We can't treat God like a formula. God. I did all the stuff. I Read my Bible. I did two days today of reading. I Did my prayers.

I did my my my K and love on the way to work or whatever. What what get what gives why didn't you do what you do. We can't treat God like he's transactional. God is relational. We don't treat anyone that we love that way and we would not love God if he acted that way.

When we don't love vending machines, we find them useful. We don't find them beautiful. It's in the dynamic relationship with God that we find him beautiful not just useful. Remember. That God's grace in your life is always grace.

Have an expanded view also what grace is the trial you're going through is grace. The pain you've went through is grace that joy. You went through is grace. That marriage that you have that's a blessing to you is grace.

That marriage that you have that you're frustrated With is a grace. Everything you have from the Lord is a gift from God who loves you. That's the third thing number four. We need to remember our reasoning is faulty.

When we're thinking about God's presence. Our perspective on experiencing God is finite and lacking we fail to account for all of the ways that God can use our pain to bless us. You hear this in Job's sort of bombastic appeal in chapter 13 verse 1.

He says nevertheless, I will argue my ways before God. Job doesn't say that in chapter 42. Listen carefully to my speech. He's talking to the Lord. Let my declaration fill your ears. Behold now I Have prepared my case and I know that I will be vindicated.

Who is gonna contend with me. How many are my iniquities and sin? God make known to me my rebellion and my sin. Why then do you hide your face and you consider me your enemy? Job has faulty reasoning here.

Job is saying the only reason God that you would pull back for me is unrighteousness and you said I was right you already said I Was righteous so therefore God what are you doing? Job wrongly assumes that that sin and Active rebellion against God is the only thing that will cause distance with God and he failed to account for the other Reasons that God might have.

God has countless reasons for the reasons or the ways that he does things and We don't need all of the answers in order to receive that and accept that there are times You're gonna walk through pain where you don't know why you're walking through pain.

There's times that people in your life are gonna hurt you and break you and Disappoint you and abandon you and lie about you and cheat on you and there's times where people are going to do all manner of Evil against you and you're not gonna know why?

You're gonna work and work and work to try to make the situation better and the more you do It's gonna feel like you're digging a hole that just goes deeper. You're not gonna understand why. You don't have to understand why as a Christian.

You don't have to have all the answers as a Christian if God hasn't revealed it to you then you're not responsible for it. What you're responsible for is what he has revealed to you. He's revealed to you that he's good.

He's revealed to you that he loves you. He's revealed to you that every situation is for your good whether you can see it or not. Receive that in faith. You don't have to have every mystery defined. That's number four.

Our reasoning is flawed. We need to remember like the psalmist says Psalm 42 verse 5 he talks to himself. Which is not a bad thing. You normally when you see people talking to themselves bad thing here it's a good thing.

Why are you in despair? Oh my soul, and why have you become disturbed within me hope in God? For I shall again praise him for the help of his presence. We'll talk about this passage a little bit more in a moment.

Just remember our reasoning on why we suffer our reasoning on why we hurt our reasoning on why God sometimes feels distance is flawed. God is in control and he's perfect number five. We need to consider our ruin or our pain or our problems.

There there's no moment in Scripture where people cry out to God God help me than when they're suffering and that's true for us when things are going well and we're walking with a swagger and we're like I Did this like Nebuchadnezzar?

We don't cry out to God like we do when we're in pain. Our problems and our pain their experiences focus us to beg God to relieve our circumstances and God does do that and God does bring aid and comfort but sometimes God allows us to walk a little bit longer in A situation than we're comfortable for we have a joke about that.

God's timing is not my timing. We say that and we smile because we're encouraging ourselves. That God is going to do something but my timings not the same as his. We live in a microwave culture a 5g Generation and we think that everything should be given to us instantly when you're living righteously.

To the best of your ability. You're not perfect. I get that but when you're doing the same things that you've always done. When you see that other people are getting experiences with God, they're feeling close to God they look like they're walking with God in a joyful way when your power of reasoning is not working and You feel like that God maybe owes you his presence.