Listen to Shane & Shane’s “Be Near” (you can find the song on iTunes here)

Read Psalm 13

Do you ever wonder if God is anywhere around? I will admit that it certainly seems that way for me sometimes. Despite all the promises that He will “never leave us or forsake us,” sometimes it’s just impossible to feel His presence. David felt that way. “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” If David—God’s beloved David—can feel that way, how much more might we feel that God isn’t with us? Take comfort in the fact that, despite how far away He seems, there will always be a time when you can say, along with David, “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart will rejoice in your salvation.”

Prayer: If you need to ask God where He is, where He has gone, don’t be afraid to. Sometimes our “quiet times” aren’t all that quiet; sometimes they involve wrestling with God. We even see in many psalms where David is essentially yelling at God, not in sinful way, but there is certainly some anguish and struggle going on between God and David. Psalm 13 for example.

And then realize that God is a God of paradox. When we are at our weakest, He is at His strongest. When we are at our lowest, He is at His highest. Read/pray this prayer written a long time ago, and take comfort.

“The Valley of Vision”

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.

Go and live in the glory of God.