Why am I here?

[Stevej66]

Hello,

I am writing this when I should be in church, but don't feel church is helping my faith. I cannot see God in my life and so wanted the opportunity to listen and to discuss.
At a very difficult time in my life, when I need God, he seems completely absent! I know the poem 'footprints' but this is not the first time, so confused about the what next.
Will be interesting to see if any forums or posts can help me to understand better
Steve

 

[“Paisios”]

Hello,

I am writing this when I should be in church, but don't feel church is helping my faith. I cannot see God in my life and so wanted the opportunity to listen and to discuss.
At a very difficult time in my life, when I need God, he seems completely absent! I know the poem 'footprints' but this is not the first time, so confused about the what next.
Will be interesting to see if any forums or posts can help me to understand better
Steve

Welcome to CF, Steve.

I hope this site will be of value to you, and that you get answers to some of your questions and support in these difficult times.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

Hello,

I am writing this when I should be in church, but don't feel church is helping my faith. I cannot see God in my life and so wanted the opportunity to listen and to discuss.
At a very difficult time in my life, when I need God, he seems completely absent! I know the poem 'footprints' but this is not the first time, so confused about the what next.
Will be interesting to see if any forums or posts can help me to understand better
Steve

The Christian life consists of faith in what God has said about you in the Bible. What would be good for you is to go through the Letters of Paul and make a list of what he says about who a Christian believer is. For example, here is a few:
You are:
A child of God
A new creation in Christ
Jesus is your brother
Seated with Jesus at the right hand of God
Part of the family of God
Totally righteous in Christ
Not under any condemnation at all
Filled with the Holy Spirit
Blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places
Has all authority over the devil and his demons
Able to come boldly to the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help in time of need
Jesus is your refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble
The law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death
Jesus has set you free from the body of death
Your sins have been removed from you as far as the east is from the west.
God has buried your sins in the deepest sea of His forgetfulness and put up a sign, "No fishing!"

These do not depend on how you feel. These are what the New Testament says about you. Regardless of how you feel, or what you sense with your five senses, these things are totally true about you. All you have to do is to believe them and start living on the foundation of your faith in what God has said about you. God is more faithful to you and you are able to be faithful to Him. He knows you better than you know yourself.

You may feel down and isolated, that it seems that dark clouds are hiding God from you. But some does that deliberately so that you will establish yourself in Him by faith and not by feelings. Once He is assured that you definitely believe what He says about you in spite of your feelings, the dark clouds will roll away and the Spirit will give you the assurance that God is truly with you and in you. This is your fight of faith. The flesh (your emotions and feelings) wars against the Spirit. You have to fight to be in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

This is what the armour of God is for, to provide you with the weapons of your warfare.
You have the helmet of salvation as a born again Christian,
You have the breastplate of the righteousness of Christ which has been given to you as a free gift from God,
You have the shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the enemy,
You have the belt of truth - the foundation of God's Word,
Your feet are shod with the gospel of peace.
You also have the sword of the Spirit, using the Word of God as a weapon against the doubts and fears the enemy would attack you in your mind,
You have the weapon of all-prayer, in which you can pour out your heart to God. The book of Psalms is a good guide about what to pray. Turn the psalms into your personal prayers.

These are the weapons in your fight of faith. Use them and the Scripture will become real to you - "Thank God that we always have the victory in Christ."

 

[Tigger45]

Glad you decided to join us Steve!

Those are the times that after you press through the roots of your faith will grow deeper and stronger.

 

[Gell]

Welcome to CF Steve!
Jesus saves. Only He can redeem you. Ask millions of Christians around the world

 

[Stevej66]

The Christian life consists of faith in what God has said about you in the Bible. What would be good for you is to go through the Letters of Paul and make a list of what he says about who a Christian believer is. For example, here is a few:
You are:
A child of God
A new creation in Christ
Jesus is your brother
Seated with Jesus at the right hand of God
Part of the family of God
Totally righteous in Christ
Not under any condemnation at all
Filled with the Holy Spirit
Blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places
Has all authority over the devil and his demons
Able to come boldly to the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help in time of need
Jesus is your refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble
The law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death
Jesus has set you free from the body of death
Your sins have been removed from you as far as the east is from the west.
God has buried your sins in the deepest sea of His forgetfulness and put up a sign, "No fishing!"

These do not depend on how you feel. These are what the New Testament says about you. Regardless of how you feel, or what you sense with your five senses, these things are totally true about you. All you have to do is to believe them and start living on the foundation of your faith in what God has said about you. God is more faithful to you and you are able to be faithful to Him. He knows you better than you know yourself.

You may feel down and isolated, that it seems that dark clouds are hiding God from you. But some does that deliberately so that you will establish yourself in Him by faith and not by feelings. Once He is assured that you definitely believe what He says about you in spite of your feelings, the dark clouds will roll away and the Spirit will give you the assurance that God is truly with you and in you. This is your fight of faith. The flesh (your emotions and feelings) wars against the Spirit. You have to fight to be in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

This is what the armour of God is for, to provide you with the weapons of your warfare.
You have the helmet of salvation as a born again Christian,
You have the breastplate of the righteousness of Christ which has been given to you as a free gift from God,
You have the shield of faith to quench the fiery darts of the enemy,
You have the belt of truth - the foundation of God's Word,
Your feet are shod with the gospel of peace.
You also have the sword of the Spirit, using the Word of God as a weapon against the doubts and fears the enemy would attack you in your mind,
You have the weapon of all-prayer, in which you can pour out your heart to God. The book of Psalms is a good guide about what to pray. Turn the psalms into your personal prayers.

These are the weapons in your fight of faith. Use them and the Scripture will become real to you - "Thank God that we always have the victory in Christ."

 

[Stevej66]

Thank you, I have started reading pauls letters. I appreciate the time you spent writing such a long epistle in response
Steve

 

[Wedinn]

Welcome to the forums! I've been through similar feelings in my life, but I think that, whatever happens you should not lose your faith in God. No matter how hard it is for you, or how far away God seems, He will be there for you as long as you believe in Him. Not only is He all-powerful and all-knowing, but also omnipresent, which may sometimes imply that he is beyond our concept of "presence".

 

[Newtheran]

Hello,

I am writing this when I should be in church, but don't feel church is helping my faith. I cannot see God in my life and so wanted the opportunity to listen and to discuss.
At a very difficult time in my life, when I need God, he seems completely absent! I know the poem 'footprints' but this is not the first time, so confused about the what next.
Will be interesting to see if any forums or posts can help me to understand better
Steve

Welcome, brother. I'm new here myself. I hear you. I "got saved" to use my old Baptist terminology decades ago. Been through some good times, and some rough patches myself.

Do you have a dog? I have a few. This morning I got up early. Earlier than I wanted to, earlier than my dogs wanted to. When I got up and came to the living room, my dogs followed. When I made coffee, they followed me to the kitchen. That's probably their favorite place to follow me. When I go to the car, they follow me, but somewhat reluctantly. They whine a bit, because somewhere in the back of their minds they knows, "well, this could be a drive to the dog park or a trip to the vet..." But they follow. Currently they are curled up behind me on the sofa, sticking to me.

We have a word for that in English, one that's fallen out of favor, but one that I suspect would be helpful to remember for all of our Christian walks.

1. doggedly(Adverb)
   in a way that is stubbornly persistent

Anyone who has had a pet dog in the house knows exactly what this means...and I suspect that it is a good illustration for us as to how we are supposed to be following Christ in an ideal world...but it gets complicated doesn't it? Our own will, material desires, and sinful nature all get in the way.

But then again, my dogs suffer from that too. All creation suffers from it. Occasionally one will growl at another over who gets to sit in the lap, or will try and grab some food they shouldn't. If we were outside, if it wasn't for the leashes I have, I'm sure they would often chase squirrels despite my calling them. They might catch the squirrel. They might get into something harmful like pesticides or be hit by a car. A leash restricts their freedom to an extent in a dangerous world, but for their own good. I suppose if he was speaking to dog owners today, Jesus might have said "my leash is easy" instead of my yoke.

Anyhow, that's a long way of saying that perhaps we should be more dog like in our following Christ...and I hope that you come through this part of the race continuing to run with the finish line a little closer. Best wishes.

 

[No Swansong]

Welcome, brother. Sometimes speaking with an elder at your home Church can help such situations. I don't know anyone who has been a Christian for any significant time that doesn't go through such dry periods. You are in my prayers.