Well, here we are another week, another episode
of the Semi -Seminary. And this week, we talk
about gods that don't exist. It's a far too common
story of people who were introduced to spiritual
faith as a child, but as they grew up, they stepped
away from faith often because of a belief in
a God that just doesn't exist. Some characteristic
about God that they felt He should have, but
one that's just not promised to us in Scripture.
Maybe that's you. Maybe your spiritual relationship
with God isn't what it should be, or maybe it's
flat -out non -existent. And it might be, and
I say this respectfully because if I heard your
story, I'd most likely feel the same way you
do. But respectfully, maybe it's that you're
believing in a God that doesn't exist. Today
we look at hide -and -seek God. Sometimes we
think that God's omnipresence means that we should
feel him with us always, and there are times,
even times when we think he should be there,
and we just don't feel anything at all. We think
God is hiding. Why is it sometimes we just don't
feel God near us? Today's installment of the
semi -seminary in Hide and Seek God. I'll see
you on the other side. So go ahead and get started
this evening. The topic of tonight's discussion
kind of came out of the lessons that we've been
having at Sunday School, our Sunday School class.
It kind of began last Sunday in a conversation
we had about how when we grow up as kids and
we learn about the Bible and we become adults,
sometimes we... We walk, there are people that
sometimes will challenge church or maybe walk
away from church or they'll walk away from their
faith because the God that they were taught about
when they were children, when we grow up and
we are faced with the difficulties of the world,
sometimes that God doesn't exist. Sometimes I
feel like there are people that maybe walk away
from the church or they walk away from faith
because they've been disappointed by a God that
just doesn't exist. And so I would like just
in maybe different settings like this, maybe
we're going to talk more about it on Sunday mornings.
If you'd like to be a part of that Sunday school
class, I want to invite you, come on down on
Sunday morning. We'll be cooking you breakfast
for you, and we will serve breakfast at 9 .15,
and we'll continue our Sunday school discussion
right here at 9 .30 next Sunday. So I'd certainly
invite you to come down for that. So in just
different settings, I'd like to talk about, as
I think about them, a lot of this, that idea
there comes from Andy Stanley, who's Charles
Stanley's son, a famous pastor from the Atlanta
area. And that's kind of his ministry vision.
is that he recognizes that there are people in
the world that have walked away from Christianity,
that they have walked away from their faith,
because they, at some point along the line, were
taught about a God that just doesn't exist. And
so, I'd like to think about some different gods
that people have, and maybe we could take a look
at them. Tonight, I'd like to talk about what
we could call the hide -and -seek God. I want
to believe in God, but I don't feel God. How
do you believe in a God that you can't see or
that you can't hear speak audibly, that you don't
feel? I want to believe in God, but I don't feel
Him. Now, I wonder, have you felt God's presence
today? Now, let me ask you, interestingly, how
do you know? that you felt God? Think about it.
How do you know? What would you say? You know,
you get goosebumps or you get that tingly, wingly,
ingly feeling, right? Maybe sometimes you feel
God and you're overcome with the presence of
God, you start crying, right? Maybe it's just
a peaceful, easy feeling. Sometimes, I don't
know. So let me ask you, if you didn't feel God
today, whose fault is that? Think about it. Was
it God's fault? God might be looking at you and
saying, you know what, I don't like your attitude
this week. So I'm going to give myself to everybody
else but you. Next week, maybe, if you're better.
Is it God's fault? Is it our fault? Is it that
our spiritual antennas just weren't up and tuned
the right way? What do you do if you don't feel
God? So what I want to do this evening, hopefully,
is to perhaps show you that the presence of God
is so much bigger than our feelings. And to introduce
this talk, I would like to say, and you should
have a little note there, and it's this truth,
that if you don't always feel the presence of
God, you're not alone. If you don't always feel
the presence of God, friends, the good news is
you are not alone. alone. Let's look at the 88th
Psalm for a moment, if you will, verses 13 and
14. The psalmist, you can feel the frustration,
I think, as he cries out and says, but God, I
cry to you for help, Lord. In the morning, my
prayer goes before you. Why, Lord, do you reject
me and hide your face from me? God, I need your
help. I need to feel your presence right now,
but it's like, For some reason, heaven is silent.
It's like there's a ceiling that is somehow blocking
me from knowing you, God. I need your presence,
but you're not even there. God, why do you reject
me? And we can look at some of the spiritual
greats that we find in the Bible. David had very
intimate times with God. A man after God's own
heart, right? Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil.
That's David saying that. Why? For you are with
me. And other times, David cries out to God,
where are you? I can't feel you. Why aren't you,
God, answering my prayer? Why are you allowing
my enemies to do this to me, God? God, where
are you? Paul, in the New Testament, right? This
guy experiences the risen Christ and he has this
heavenly experience one time that is so glorious
that he's not even allowed to talk about it.
Yet, you know what he did for the first 17 years
of his life after he became a follower of Jesus,
wanting to preach? He waited. He waited and he
waited and he waited, making tents. God, give
me a chance. God, where are you? I don't feel
you. Jesus, right? Even think about this. Jesus,
who walked in the most intimate fellowship moment
by moment with God, on the cross, He becomes
sin for us. And I'll be honest, I can't fully
explain. what's going on here because I don't
know exactly what God did or didn't do scripture
just isn't very clear but evidently when Jesus
became sin and died for our sins God was so holy
that he couldn't look upon him Whatever happens
in that moment on the cross, the world is going
dark as Jesus gives up his life and he looks
up in his most desperate moment and cries out,
Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? My God, my God, where
are you? Why have you forsaken me? Jesus, God's
Son. in his greatest moment of brokenness. God,
I felt you my whole life, and I can't feel you
now. Where are you, God? Now, I don't know if
any of you might have read a guy by the name
of C .S. Lewis, any of his books. He's kind of
like, if you're a Christian, or maybe you don't
know him, he's a literary giant in Christian
writing. I'm sure you've probably heard of the
Chronicles of Narnia, right? C .S. Lewis. He
wrote other books like Mere Christianity. He
wrote tons and tons of books. The Screwtape Letters
is another really great C .S. Lewis book. Amazing,
amazing books. And this spiritual giant actually
wrote this at one time in his life when he didn't
sense, he didn't feel the presence of God. Here's
what he wrote during one of the painful times
of his life. He says that he cried out to God
and he said this. He said, I got a door slammed
in my face and the sound of bolting and double
bolting on the inside and after the silence.
C .S. Lewis. He went on to say that this had
caused him to doubt the presence of God. He said
this in a metaphorical way. He said there were
no lights on in the windows. It might be an empty
house. In other words, is God even there? Was
that house ever even inhabited? It seemed so
once. Why is God so present a commander in our
time of prosperity and yet so absent in our very
time of trouble? If you don't always feel the
presence of God, you are not alone. So what I
want to do... with the remainder of my time here
tonight. So I would like to suggest three possible
reasons why some people might say, yeah, I want
to believe in God, but I don't feel Him right
now. Now, I am certain there are more reasons,
but I'd like to start at least with three that
might give a longing just to pursue God and the
chance of perhaps finding Him in a more intimate
way. Thought number one, why don't we always
feel God? Number one, maybe, perhaps for some,
you're over -sensationalizing it. You're over
-sensationalizing it. You're doing exactly what
the disciples did in John's gospel, chapter 6
and verse 30. They said, give us some sort of
big, bold sign. Give us something clear. Give
us something that, you know, ta -da! That we
can believe in you. They asked Jesus, what sign
then will you give that we might see it and believe
in you? What are you going to do for us, Jesus?
And then they start using the past to increase
this argument. Our ancestors ate manna in the
wilderness. And it's written that God gave them
bread from heaven to eat. God did this. God did
this miracle. That's bread from heaven. Jesus,
do something like that. Give us some sense that
God is with you. There's some in our world today
that may just be over -sensationalizing it. You
want to know God. You want to feel it. Yet you're
looking for that loud, thunderous, audible voice.
You're like, I want God to speak to me and it
be like, thou shalt breaketh up with that man.
You want the angel to appear to you and say,
which way do I go? And the angel says, go that
way. Oversensationalizing it. That's what people
expect all the time. And if they don't have that,
then they don't have God. And that's not how
God always works. God doesn't always reveal himself
that way. There are times when you may feel Him.
There are times when you may not. And we have
to understand that feelings are not the only
evidence that God is with us. And if you always
felt God, then you wouldn't need faith. And without
faith, it's impossible to please God. And there
are some people just saying it. They over sensationalize
it. They're always looking for that goose bump
feeling, that audible voice, when sometimes it
is a quiet whisper. Perhaps there are some of
you that you are looking for something that is
not there because God is with you always. The
second thing, there are some I believe, you may
not feel God because maybe, truthfully, Your
heart is hardened. Maybe your heart is hardened.
You were at one point in your life, there was
a time when you were close to God, but now your
heart isn't as soft towards God as it once was.
This is Jesus quoting the prophet Isaiah in the
13th chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew,
verses 14 and 15. Jesus says this. He said, you
will be ever hearing, but never understanding.
You will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.
And then he said, for this people's heart has
become calloused. They hardly hear what their
ears, and they have their eyes closed. They've
closed their eyes. What happened? They were close
to God perhaps at one time, but over time things
and their heart just grew harder. Now spiritually,
They didn't see like they used to see spiritually.
They didn't hear like they used to hear. Perhaps
some of us have maybe allowed our hearts to grow
hard for the things of God. And we need to understand
that the number one cause of a hard heart is
sin. Sin in our life, we just talked about this
on Sunday, sin in our life that separates, that
creates a distance. From God, right? Let me explain.
If you sin against God, does that mean that God
doesn't love you and you're not a Christian?
Obviously not. You sin against God and you're
a follower of Jesus and you're still a follower
of Jesus. But what happens is that sin breaks
the intimacy with God. And like we said on Sunday,
it causes a distance. Imagine, it's super, super
cold outside. It's 15 degrees. It's freezing.
We get bundled up in our best gear. We've got
an amazing hat. We've got on our earmuffs. We've
got the ski mask thing. We put a scarf around
our neck. We put on full body, long underwear.
We put on our best coat. Big, thick ski pants.
We've got wool socks on. Great boots with the
little heaters in them. The best gloves that
we can find and we walk out. And what do you
feel? Not cold. Right? It's cold outside, but
you don't feel cold. Why? Why do you not feel
cold? Because there is something separating you
from what's really there. And if we continue
to let sin rule our life, it's not that God's
not there, but there's something separating.
There's something blocking us from feeling that
intimacy and the goodness of God that is still
there. This is what David prayed in the Hebrew
scripture after he sinned. And he did a lot of
sin, by the way. And he prayed out to God. He
said, create in me a pure heart. Maybe your heart
is hardened. Create in me a pure heart. Renew
within me a right spirit. Restore to me the joy
of my salvation. There may be some of us. And
I am not here to heap condemnation on anybody.
Because if that's you, more than likely you already
feel bad. But maybe you don't feel the presence
of God because you've got some sin blocking the
reality that God's already there. But remember,
He's still with you. Some in our world are over
-sensationalizing it. Some, our hearts have grown
harder. Number three, and I hope that many of
us, is this. Maybe God wants to draw you closer
to Him. Well, I don't always feel God. Well,
maybe it's because God is wanting to draw you
closer to Him. I love what the Acts of the Apostles
says in the 17th chapter, verse 26. Paul here
is preaching in the city of Athens. And he preached
this way. He said this. I can only imagine. Paul
says in Athens, he says, from one man. God made
all the nations that they should inhabit the
whole earth. He marked out their appointed times
in history and the boundaries of their land.
And then He gave the why behind all of that.
He said, God did this so that they would seek
Him. He did this so that they would seek Him
and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though
He is not far from any one of us. What did God
do? God did this. God created. God showed the
glory of who He was. And He did it so that people
would reach out and say, I want to choose. I
want that God. I want to know Him. And I want
to pursue after Him. And there may be those times,
and this is just me suggesting it, that you may
not feel God because God wants to bring you to
a place where you have more of a desire for Him.
What does deprivation do to us? Deprivation draws
out desire. If I don't eat, what do I get? I
get hungry. If I don't drink, I get thirsty.
If I don't sense the presence of God, I might
start hungering and thirsting for God. And what
happens? Perhaps, God is going to create a longing
in your heart where you might wake up and say,
God, I want to experience you today. I want to
know that you are with me. And you press into
him and you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.
And then everything is added up unto you. Here's
the deal. Anytime that you truly sense. in a
powerful, even at times a supernatural way, that
God is with you, embrace that. Because He is.
And never, ever, ever forget that He is with
you always. Don't ever, though, forget to embrace
Him in everyday moments as well. When we're driving
to work early in the morning and we see the sunrise
and the colors streak across, The sky, you can
say, I see you, God, there. I see you displaying
your glory in the heavens. I sense your presence.
When you go to work and you do something you're
pretty good at and you say, I feel you with me,
God, because I was created to do this. When you
pray for somebody during the day, You make a
difference or you reach out to somebody or you
give something to someone. God, I feel your presence
as you have used me to represent you. If you'll
seek him. When you seek him, you'll find him.
Because he loves to reveal himself to those who
pursue. Well, there you have it. I would love
to hear what you have to say. You can connect
with me on social media. All of the links are
there in the show notes. Also, if you could take
the time to rate and review the podcast, I'd
greatly appreciate it. Your ratings and reviews
helps more people to see the podcast. Take care
and be blessed.