Hi Without,
Let me first add my commendation to Dani's for your even being on "faith street," despite feeling you are about to take a left turn off of it. That road is not even in the "GPS" of most people your age today. Second thing: as Andrew noted, when we don't feel as close to God as we did, it's not God that moved--yet, that doesn't mean you've become less faithful--just spiritually distant. It's sort of like the earth and the sun: the sun remains stationary, while the earth does all the moving around. And, similar to the annual rotation of the earth around the sun, our spiritual distance from God can seem to vary at times, making us feel warmer or cooler. We can go from the highest mountaintop to the deepest darkest valley in our walk; nobody is immune to that, no matter how old you are.
During the night, or during a storm, the sun can be hidden from us. Yet, it never goes anywhere--it's always right there, always shining as brightly as ever; we just don't always see it. In the morning, or after the storm, there it is. In the same way, Christians can go through some dark places in their walk, and endure some dark, frightening, spiritual storms. But sooner or later, it passes, and the warmth and light of God's presence once again shines upon us. The "Son" never stops shining. It's just a temporary darkness that keeps us from seeing Him. It will pass if we simply continue to walk by faith, not by sight or feeling.
You know, even the human part of Jesus felt that temporary darkness and distance from God upon the cross: When the holy God laid every sin that was ever committed upon Jesus, it created a necessary sense of separation that terrified Jesus. For the first time in His life, He could not feel His Father's presence. That's why He cried out, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" God had not forsaken Jesus; He only felt that way. And He was put through that so that He could feel everything that we feel--including our occasional sense that God is not there with us. Don't give up my friend. What you are feeling is temporary. Don't let the Devil convince you the sunrise isn't coming. He's a liar--that's what he does. The harder it is to be faithful, the stronger our faith becomes, kind of like a spiritual muscle. Hold tight.
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Originally Posted by gringo300
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