“There is a deep peace that grows out of illness and loneliness and a sense of failure. God cannot get close when everything is delightful. He seems to need these darker hours, these empty-hearted hours, to mean the most to people.”
American Missionary, Frank Laubach
How can someone seem so close to us one minute, and then so far away the next? Human relationships are lots of things, but uncomplicated they are not. It almost seems as though we were created to become easily challenged by distraction.
And perhaps we were. Have you ever noticed how unnatural it seems for us to cherish the moments of joy and success while acknowledging the true Source from which they came?
Our relationship with God can sometimes seem just as complicated and distant.
My mother kept a painting on the living room wall of our old house, a portrait of Peter walking toward Jesus on the waters of the Sea of Galilee. As a child I would look at the painting and wonder what Peter must have felt during those first initial steps. Immense joy, perhaps? A feeling of worth and accomplishment? Jesus could not have seemed closer to Peter in that moment. But within a matter of seconds, Peter’s faith would vanish as the winds swirled about him. How quickly his confidence turned into a desperate fear.
And it was then that Peter felt the hand of Jesus and drew nearer to Him.
Yes, it does seem an odd necessity for us to entirely deplete our own strengths and resources before finally arriving at this needed point of loneliness and desperation that draws us nearer to Christ. I’m sure that God would prefer to meet with us on more enjoyable terms, but perhaps He knows that they wouldn’t be nearly as intimate and memorable for us.
We seem to need these darker hours, these empty-hearted hours, before He means the most to us.
Former Blackout Artist 