By Steve Lucas ...
When I talk to God, I always think that He will answer. Simple, eh? You talk to someone, you expect an answer. I know that He answers my prayers, not how I envision it or how I want it but still it would be nice to actually hear Him. Sometimes in the quiet of the night or if I am alone, I hear someone call my name. In those moments I always try to answer ‘I am here’. Why do I do it? Because I want to actually hear from Him and maybe he will talk to me.
Pastor Alan talked on Sunday about Psalm 137 and the absence the people of Jerusalem felt when they were forced to relocate. Great atrocities were committed to further destroy their spirit, while their ancient enemies cheered on the destruction that Babylon wrought. Pastor Alan talked of the spirit of the people Jerusalem who refused to give into their captors, to sing or to play instruments. At the same time they cried out that if they ever forgot Jerusalem that they should lose the ability to play or make music.
We turn to God when we want a favour, a blessing or just to give thanks. But what happens when we feel that God is not there for us. How do we seek comfort if we feel abandoned? As Pastor Alan mentioned in times when we are seeking and cannot find solace then we should borrow another’s. Lean on a friend or open the bible to find comfort are two simple suggestions. We are never far from the word if we need it.
But sometimes there are times when feeling that there is no end to the abandonment, not only from family and friends but there is no God. In my early twenties was a time for me. Life was compressing on me, my mother had just passed away the year before from cancer and my father was giving into his alcoholism. This one particular night the emptiness was becoming unbearable and I started thinking if I should end it. Just as I was contemplating my life’s path, this incredible experience happened which has become the basis of my faith today. I heard an enormous bell going off. Not a normal bell that would ring at school or a church but louder and bigger like from a cathedral, the type of sound that just moves through you and woke me up to the possibilities of life. From there I slowly learned about faith and God. Darlene had a lot to do with that. I lean on her faith a lot over the years.
I remember the line from footprints in the sand, “My precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you only see one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.” This was my father’s favourite poem for he also found God and sobriety.
I believe that God is always with us, we just have to remember to reach out to him.
Listen to this sermon here!