The words of the chorus remind me of one of my more favortie movie quotes of all time...Eric Laddell, "God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast and when I run I feel His pleasure..."
It is easy for me to try to live my life in search of His touch...However, my faith and my heart can be severely wounded or damaged when we hit those dry spells when I am lsolely seeking His touch and I cannot "feel" His pleasure...Thank God our faith does not have to solely rely on feelings...We can know that we are pleasing Him by walking obediently to His will...Feelings are too subjective a lot of times...
When those dry times come, for whatever reason, we have to remember that part of this process of pursuing holiness is hard and arduous...James and Peter and Paul mention that suffering produces patience, patience produces character and character produces hope and hope does not disappoint...Feelings can disappoint...
We can live by faith even when we are dry and thirsty...But part of me thinks that Andrew Murray was right, this is the place that belongs to us, when we are totally dependent and desperate for God alone...Jesus was lead by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness, maybe there are times where we are lead there as well...Maybe we should scrap the efforting for feeling and subjectivity, and just wait and let God do His business in us...
I once told God in intense prayer that I would serve him even if I never felt him again......Boy! I think it was 2 or 3 whole years I went through a dry spell, I thought God left me, and changed his mind about me. I thought I failed him and maybe prayed a bad prayer, because at that time in prayer, the presence of God was so real, I thought I could have lived on that experience the rest of my life, and I still believe I could have. But not anymore. Thank God! I feel the wind blowing again. I still am trouble, becasue I want to give him my all, yet I still stuggle in prayer, i don't seem to have the connection I use to when I was younger. Maybe it is making me stronger. That is my hope. I often would remind God in prayer during my dry spell, God i am still here.
I don't believe that to be possible if true repentance of sin is offered to God in responce to his Spirits call. To me, that's like saying I can get in the shower and not get wet.
Kind of a different subject here ... Any of you remember a quartet song from the 70's "I Believe, Help Thou My Unbelief" ? Starts out: "I believe, help Thou my unbelief! I walk into the unknown trusting all the while! I believe, help Thou my unbelief! I walk into the unknown trusting as a child! (I question my memory on the "unknown" phrases) and the chorus is, "I long so much to feel the touch others seem to feel ... but if I never know the touch I'll love You even still!" Anyway ... just thought I'd get opinions about the ideas expressed in this song. Have any of you had the experience expressed here? Have any of you given your life to the Lord without feeling ANYthing?
Just curious.
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"I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to His holy people." Jude 3 Joyce
