God is With Us

We are blessed to live in a beautiful part of Britain – Cumbria; not in the well-known and much visited Lake District, but just outside a small town at the foot of the Howgill Fells. Our house has the most wonderful views of these fells (mountains).

The view changes with the weather. On sunny days against a clear blue sky (quite a rarity in Cumbria!) – they look magnificent, with cloud patterns on the fells and the sun showing up the hollows and valleys. The sun sets behind them, so that in summer during the long, light evenings they look almost like a painted backcloth, showing dark against the sunset. From certain angles they look like sleeping monsters with smooth greenish-brown skin. But on cloudy and rainy days, they often disappear altogether so that you wouldn’t know they were there at all: it is only because we have lived here for so long that we know they are there, and we know that when the cloud clears we shall see them again.

There are seasons in our relationship with God that are like this. There are times when we can see Him clearly and we wonder at His amazing love and gentleness towards us. There are the mysteries of the God we can never fully understand and there are times when we don’t feel that He is there at all.

Like the fells, however, He hasn’t gone away. It may be that He has withdrawn a little in order to draw us closer, or to test our faithfulness. It may be that there is sin in our lives that we need to deal with. Whatever the reason for our not seeing Him, we can trust that He is still there and always will be.

Prayer: Dearest Father, there are times when You feel so far away and I feel lost. Please reveal to me if there is any sin issue that I need to deal with, or why I am struggling to find You. Even though You feel so far away, I know that You are watching over me and will never leave me. Thank You, Father, Amen.