Are You There God?
By Sarah Conaway
“Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5b
Do you ever feel like God’s checked out for the day or taken a much-needed vacation? Do you long for His presence and relentlessly search for it and feel nothing? What do you do in those situations?
Almost two years ago, I had a stroke that left me with dulled sensation in the right half of my body. Some parts are completely numb. My nerves react to my inability to feel by misfiring. My body knows something is wrong and tries to fix it. It's trying to feel and won’t give up trying to regain sensation. The prickling and tingling is more than I can handle, so I take a nerve blocking medication.
Just like with my body, sometimes I can’t feel God. Sometimes I can feel Him a little. Sometimes I can feel Him a lot. I want to feel Him a lot, all the time. But how? How do I go from feeling nothing some days to being engulfed in His divine presence everyday? And if I don’t, for whatever reason, does that mean He’s gone? That He left me or is ignoring me?
Hebrews 13:5 tells us God is always with us and will never leave. Even if we can’t feel Him, He’s there. He doesn’t fall asleep or have an “off” day.
If you want to feel His steadfast presence, ask Him to reveal Himself to you in ways you'll see and understand. To make Himself known even when you’re numb, and be diligent to connect with Him daily through prayer and Scripture reading. But most importantly, trust, regardless of how you feel, He’s there.
Sarah Conaway is a writer, speaker, ministry leader, two-time stroke survivor, and a contributor to Wholly Loved’s Devotional Project. Visit her online at www.Stromies.com.
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Originally published Monday, 18 March 2024.
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