Suffering and faith

 Ever felt abandoned by everyone including God? Ever wondered what God is up to when you’re in danger and despair? Sometimes you can feel alone and abandoned when you feel in deepest need of God. It is then you can wonder how you got to this point and why God doesn’t seem to be listening or intervening. Why would God seem to be so distant at such a time? Why doesn’t He seem to show up or speak up? David asks the same questions in Psalm 13, I think we all do when we are in crisis, yet do you get the answers that you crave? Most often probably not, just like David. Sometimes you will not receive a response for the heartfelt cries of your innermost being, how do you handle that? 

Psalm 13:1–6 (ESV): 

1  How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? 

How long will you hide your face from me? 

2  How long must I take counsel in my soul 

and have sorrow in my heart all the day? 

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? 

3  Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; 

light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 

4  lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” 

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. 

5  But I have trusted in your steadfast love; 

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 

6  I will sing to the Lord, 

because he has dealt bountifully with me. 

Can you hear David’s desperation? He’s feeling; alone, long-suffering, abandoned, hidden, sorrowful, diminished, shaken. David feels wretched and like he has been abandoned by God, but he does not stop trusting in Him. David admits that this season he is going through is lonely and difficult but he does not give up hope and he does not give up believing in God, even if God is being quiet. David does let God know how he feels though - this psalm is evidence of that. When you are going through emotions like these when you are desperate, what do you do? Do you admit how you're really doing - to yourself, others and God? Do you let God know exactly how you feel - you're allowed to, you're even allowed to ask Him questions even if you get no answers. Times like these are not easy to walk through, but they will end and where will you be then? Will you have deepened your trust and relationship with God and others or would you have hidden or run away to try to escape the inner turmoil? 

You get to choose how you deal with the excess of emotions, hardship and pain. It can be incredibly hard and confusing but you are responsible for how you respond. Even when God seems distant - you are responsible for how you handle that. David was a great man known by God as, 'a man after my own heart' (1 Samuel 13:14) and he went through times of great difficulty but he recognised that when he felt like this he was responsible for taking, ‘counsel in my soul’. At these times you too need to take counsel in your soul. God is not going to give you all the answers or fulfil all your wishes like a magical genie, no matter how frustrating that may be, so it is up to you to ‘counsel’ yourself. This means you need to guide and direct your behaviour and responses by remembering; what is true, who God is and what God has said before. You will need to give yourself a good talking to. Bring to mind what you know and have experienced of God, look to the Bible and see how others such as David, Job, Jesus and Moses have handled such times. Many people have experienced hardship and heartache so you have good examples to follow but you need to set your mind on what you're following. This is how you can counsel yourself - recalling what you know to be true, remembering who God really is and getting support and relief from understanding that others have experienced the same sense of abandonment and despair that you feel. It is nothing to be ashamed of, in fact it could be an opportunity for growth. 

These experiences and emotions test your faith and how you handle these times shows a lot about the depth of faith you have. You can choose whether, through this trial, your faith is going to withstand or fail. It all depends on your acceptance of and trust in God. When life gets difficult, it's ok to wobble, question, cry aloud, feel frustrated and in despair. David talks to God and lets Him know exactly how he is doing - do you? David recalls his previous experiences, knowledge and understanding of God and sees how God has moved before. He also recalls the eternal truth that God has given him salvation. This truth will never change no matter what you go through. If there is nothing else going well in life - the truth will always remain that God has made a way for you and He to be friends, nothing can diminish or take that away from you. Do you remind yourself of such things? 

Are you building a faith that endures? The Israelites had to go for hundreds of years without hearing from God. They had periods of success and failure in that time, and there was a remnant of people that kept trusting and believing in God through that time. Are you going to be part of the remnant that holds on, that trusts and believes, that hopes through the silence? 

David kept going. He counselled himself through such difficulties knowing that God has come through for him before. He knew that God has preserved his life, elevated his position, strengthened and sustained him before, and so he trusted God to do the same now. David admitted that some of his experiences were horrible, lonely and depressing so he talked to God about it and trusted, 'in your steadfast love'. Do you know that you can always trust in God's steadfast love too? David was patient and waited. He suffered well. He did not do so silently, but he suffered well - this is how he became the man after God's heart that he is renowned for. What does how you suffer show about you and the faith you have?