I wrote a short post last week about spiritual deserts
(“When God Feels Far Away“). Over the weekend, a stream of comments came in,
from people sharing experiences of pain, suffering, joy, answered prayer, and
questions for God. People wrote about losing their jobs, battling cancer, a
child using drugs, family issues, physical disabilities, depression,
experiencing heartbreak and a host of other sorrows and problems.

In response to your comments, I wanted to write a little bit
more as, I hope, a word of encouragement. Once again, I’ll use Psalm 63 as my
guide.

The first thing the Psalmist tells us is to pray. Even when
you feel far away. Even when you “feel so empty inside.” Even when you think,
“I have failed God.” Even when you “have felt as though” you are “the worst
person on the face of the earth.” Even when you “feel God has forsaken me.”
Even when you worry “God had enough of my complaints.” Even then, especially
then, the Psalms remind us that we can always talk to God.

Jesus reminds us of this too. He says we should be like
little children, constantly asking our parents for what we want, not worrying
about whether our parents will be annoyed with us or not. He tells us we
should, “Always pray and never give up” (See Luke 18).

And Jesus also tells us there are no preconditions for who
can go to God. In fact, those of you who described yourself in the comments
yesterday fit the picture of the people God cares about most of all. At one
point, Jesus tells his disciples who will be invited to the “wedding banquet,”
which is to say, who God wants to invite to a party. Here’s the list: the
blind, the lame, the poor, the outcast, the ones who aren’t respectable and
religious, the ones who don’t have it all together (see Luke 14:15-23).
You are the one–you who are living with your boyfriend, you who failed God, you
who haven’t been able to work because of disability–you are the one God loves.
You are the one God longs to hear from. And you are invited to talk to your
Father.

So the first thing is: Pray.

And the second thing is: Remember. I wrote a little bit last
week about remembering what God has done for you in the past. But sometimes we
can’t remember anything from the past. Sometimes we haven’t had positive
experiences with God in the past. And that’s when instead we need to remember
who God is. God is the one who came to earth in the person of Jesus. God is the
one who lived among us and died for us because of his unbelievable love for us.
God is the one who holds us tight. And God is the one who will not allow his
children to be separated from his love: For
I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither
the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

The final thing is: Tell Somebody. In other words, connect with other people. When the Israelites
collected the Psalms, it was in order to share these experiences of God with
one another. So, for those of you who are reading these comments, pray for one
another. Find a local church or Bible Study or prayer group or healing prayer
service. Find one friend who will get together and listen and pray honest prayers. As many of you said, it is too much to try to do this alone.

Pray. Remember. Tell Somebody.

The Israelites wandered in the desert for years, but they entered the promised land. God will not leave us in the desert forever.