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 Campus Life, January/February 2001
When God Feels Far Away
A friend of mine is going through so much pain that she's doubting everything she believes in. She faces a choice that will affect the rest of her life: She can stop believing because God appears silent, even cold, toward her pain. Or she can choose to believe that God continues to love her dearlyeven though her difficult circumstances seem to say (or scream) otherwise.
When it comes to my own life, I, too, have had my doubts. And I've also been forced to make a choice. I could let my struggles pull me down or I could, well, look backward. That's right, when I haven't felt close to God, I've chosen to look back to times when I did feel God's closeness. One thing that's helped me do this is my personal journal. Since I write in it almost daily, I can read the past entries that show God at work. And when I read them, I see a loving Godeven though he's seemingly silent right nowwho is there for me. Then there's the encouragement I found in this month's "Christian Classics" a challenge to trust in the facts of faith, not in my fickle feelings. (Check it out on page 58.)
I've also discovered a lot of good stuff in the writings of another "classic"a monk named François de Fénelon. This guy wrote around 300 years ago, yet his wisdom remains right on for today. Take these gut-honest words about dealing with difficulties: "When things are difficult in your life, prayer will be harder, love will be less tender, and God's presence will be less easily felt. Just learn to be faithful during these trying timesthat is all that God asks."
Such wonderful, down-to-earth advice, don't you think? And to be honest, that's what I hope you'll find in this issue of Campus Life. Good, down-to-earth help for living your faithand for making right choices that will pull you just a little bit closer to God.
Perhaps you're feeling like my struggling friend right now. If so, I hope you'll discover in these pages a loving God who has your best interest at hearteven when he sometimes seems a million miles away.
Chris and your friends @ Campus Life Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine. Click here for reprint information on Campus Life. January/February 2001, Vol. 59, No. 6, Page 4
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