Forums
Jackie ;
I have not read Nouwen's book. But I have come to understand a little on God being far away. I have been a believer for about 30 years and I am still young in Him. Like The apostle Paul , Pressing toward that upward call in Christ Jesus.The most wonderful and hard book I know I needed at one time in my life was The Dark Night of the soul- by St. John of the Cross.
There comes a time in all our walks that the savior, as we grow in Him removes the spiritual attachments from us such as the emotional feelings, Feelings during our prayer time, or even our enjoyment during music. When this happens the desert time is here. As Jesus went into the desert to be alone so do we with nothing but what the savior had and that was God's word. We trust that His word is truth regardless if we feel anything at all. This lesson according to Saint John is one of the hardest to learn and it seems that we will stay in school until we really grasp this. Remember, God has eternity and we are in time so the desert can be short or long depending on what we will learn with Him teaching us. As I grow I become used to the tingly feelings kinda like a spiritual fix of sorts and not on Christ himself. And He will wean us for sure. Our real faith and walk takes root during this time to where he becomes more real than when we had Him nursing our every whim. May God richly bless you and keep you during this time. Place yourself in His capable hand and ask Him what He would have from you and fully focus on Him. Kinda like Peter said to our Lord When Jesus asked him if he wanted to leave (with the 70 ), Peter said where would he go, For Jesus had the words of life. His Grace is awesome, rest in it.
All of Christ in all of you;
James
Adie~Somedays scary, some days unknown. I am familiar with the Dark Night of the Soul. Earlier this year someone suggested a Richard Foster Devotional Classics section about John of the Cross and the Dark Night. I had tried to read Dark Night some time ago and found it very difficult but after reading Fosters excerpt I went back and read it again. Maybe Foster's insights helped and maybe I was just in a place to hear and I wasn't before. Yes it does fit where I am. Funny that you would share that you weren't thinking "when" but "if" you would ever come out of the questioning because my question about it taking "too long" was rooted in my concern that I might not come out of it. So you saw right through me Your posts have been a huge gift in regard to the need to process this, I think I have been avoiding processing it to some degree.
James~Thank you for your words of encouragement. I have printed your post and slipped it in my journal to remind me how to hold on and "be" in this place. There truly is no where else to go.