You have wrapped yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. — Lamentations 3:44
“I call, I cling, I want — and there is no One to answer… Where I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven — there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives & hurt my very soul. — Love — the word — it brings nothing. — I am told God loves me — and yet the reality of darkness & coldness & emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul.”1
These are the words of Mother Teresa.
Mother Teresa, originally named Gonxha Agnes Bojaxhiu, was born in 1910 and raised in a pious Catholic home in Macedonia. At eighteen, she joined the Sisters of Loreto and was given the name Sister Mary Teresa. The Dublin-based order of Loreto ran missions in India, and that is where Teresa was sent.
While on a train from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa said she heard the voice of Jesus telling her to leave her own religious order for the sake of serving the poor. So she moved to Calcutta. She helped the poor and the sick and was known for helping the terminally ill die with dignity, joy, and comfort.
But it was not just good deeds that drew the world’s attention to the poor Catholic nun — a nun serving the poor doesn’t usually make headlines. Mother Teresa garnered a special audience because of her way with words. She has been called the “poet laureate of the soul” and the “sound-bite saint.” Her writings have encouraged millions into a more radical service of Jesus.
|
|
|
“God is absent in the way we most desire but present in the way we most require." — David Bowden |
“God is absent in the way we most desire but present in the way we most require." — David Bowden |
|
|
So it was no surprise that some of her letters were released following her death in 1997. However, the world was shocked to discover the extreme struggle with doubt her letters revealed. For nearly fifty years, from 1948 till her death, Mother Teresa wrote privately as one in spiritual anguish, with only one month of relief in 1958.
Listen to a few of her other laments:
“I did not know that love could make one suffer so much… of pain human but caused by divine.”2
“The more I want Him — the less I am wanted. — I want to love Him as He has not been loved — and yet there is that separation — that terrible emptiness, that feeling of absence of God.”3
Mother Teresa experienced the same desire as Moses — more wanted more. She was so in love with God that the absence of His actual and immediate presence was insufferable to her. A distance lay between her and God that some may see as closeness. But to a lover, even an inch of distance can seem like an infinite gap. An inch can feel like absence.
The more Mother Teresa loved God, the farther she felt from Him.
There is a great story of what it feels like to be far from God in the life of the prophet Jonah...
Continue reading on the blog... |
|
|
If you feel God’s absence, do you remember once feeling His Presence? Is your love and longing for Him growing? If you have a loved one who is running from Jesus, be encouraged that they cannot run from heaven’s hound. Jesus is after His kids even if you see no evidence of it. Come share your thoughts with us. We would love to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily |
|
|
Why God Is Farther than You Think but Closer than You Dare Imagine |
When God Isn't There by David Bowden |
|
|
$16.99
$10.19 (40% off) + FREE shipping on all orders $35 and more + FREE printables with your purchase |
Why does God feel so far away? Why is my worship so empty? Has God left me?
David Bowden knows these questions firsthand, having wrestled for years with God’s apparent absence and studying what the Bible says about it. In this new book, Bowden tackles the subject head-on, finding the key to understanding it in the Bible’s depiction of a God who is infinitely far from us, free to move where he wants, but who chooses to come near in the person of Jesus.
A resource of encouragement for those who struggle with feeling God’s absence and a wake-up call to those who take God’s presence for granted, When God Isn’t There will forever change your understanding of why God sometimes seems to vanish and how he can be found again. |
Praise for When God Isn't There
|
“A must-read for anyone who’s felt far from God.”
—Bobby Gruenewald, LifeChurch Innovation Leader and a founder of YouVersion
“A masterful treatment of what it means to suffer the pain of God’s apparent absence and the inexpressible joy of feeling his presence.”
—Sam Storms, lead pastor for Teaching and Vision, Bridgeway Church
“David wrestles with theological concepts in a down-to-earth way. . . . Many will benefit from this very helpful book.”
—Kyle Idleman, bestselling author of Not a Fan |
|
|
| Rewire Your Heart: Replace Your Desire for Sin with Desire For God |
The weapon is not saying "no" to sin but saying "yes" to God. In Rewire Your Heart, David Bowden helps us discover God's plan to overcoming sin by rewiring our desires with the Gospel. When we invite the Holy Spirit to transform our underlying affections with the good news of Jesus, we begin to break free from the patterns of sin, guilt, and determination, and discover the richer fulfillment found in joyfully obeying God's commands. |
|
|
FREE GIFTS WITH ANY PURCHASE Do-It-Yourself Gratitude Jar Printables
Start a daily gratitude habit or give grateful jars as gifts to loved ones this holiday season to share all the ways you are thankful for them! These printables from Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts, are free with any purchase (no minimum) in FaithGateway Store now through 10/31/22 - delivered to your email after checkout.
|
|
|
this devotion with someone who needs it today |
|
|
|
