Not Forsaken - What to Remember When God Feels Absent

She was a POW in a Japanese prison, suspected of being an American spy.

Darlene Deibler had travelled to New Guinea as a newlywed to do missions work. But shortly after their arrival the Japanese invaded the country and separated the young couple. 

Now, in her tiny prison cell, Darlene keenly felt her need for the comforting presence of Jesus.

“Lord, don’t ever leave me or forsake me. Your wonderful presence has made this cell a place of beauty, a sacred place like a chapel lighted by Your presence.”

As if in cruel response to her prayer, the Lord seemed to suddenly leave her.

Quite suddenly and unexpectedly, I felt enveloped in a spiritual vacuum. “Lord, where have You gone? What have I said or done to grieve You? Why have You withdrawn Your presence from me? O Father – ” In a panic I jumped to my feet, my heart frantically searching for a hidden sin, for a careless thought, for any reason why my Lord should have withdrawn His presence from me. My prayers, my expressions of worship, seemed to go no higher than the ceiling; there seemed to be no sounding board. I prayed for forgiveness, for the Holy Spirit to search my heart. To none of my petitions was there any apparent response.

When Prayers Hit the Ceiling

Have you ever cried out to the Lord in a difficult situation only to feel like your prayers hit the ceiling?

Have you ever felt like God doesn’t even see or care about your situation? 

Just when Darlene felt her need the most, God seemed to have abandoned her. But as I read Darlene Deibler’s story in her autobiography, Evidence Not Seen, I was struck by how she responded to this sudden lack of communion with her Lord. 

Most of us take these opportunities to grow bitter towards God. Most of us stop praying. 

But Darlene had a completely different response. 

Darlene’s Response

After her initial panic, she “sank to the floor and quietly and purposefully began to search the Scriptures hidden in [her] heart.” 

Rather than growing desperate, angry, bitter, or giving up, she went to God’s word for answers. 

As Darlene searched her memory for scripture that might shed light on her situation, she recalled five promises that strengthened her heart and restored her confidence in the Lord’s very near presence.

Let’s take a look at them.  

1. If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear. (Psalm lxvi.18)

The Amplified version brings clarity to this verse; “If I regard sin and baseness in my heart [that is, if I know it is there and do nothing about it], the Lord will not hear [me].” 

Sin separates us from God.  Even as Christians, we experience a measure of separation from God when we engage in deliberate, willful sin because God is holy and cannot dwell in the midst of sin. 

The entire purpose of the gospel is to enable us to have a relationship with Jesus by dealing with our sin, removing it from us, and clothing us in Christ’s righteousness. 

But if we allow sin to remain in our life unconfessed and un-repented, it will hinder our relationship with Christ. We cannot be close to sin and close to Jesus. 

If you find yourself in a place where it seems like God isn’t listening, allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart and see if there is any unconfessed sin that might be standing between you and Jesus. 

2. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John i.9)

If the Holy Spirit brings unconfessed sin to your mind, tell Jesus about it and ask for forgiveness! He will forgive you and cleanse you of all sin, no matter how big or small. 

But if you are worried about past sins that you have already repented of, cling to this promise. All sin that has been confessed has also been removed from us. We no longer bear the guilt of that sin. It no longer stands in the way between us and God. 

“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” (Isaiah xliii.25)

Once we repent of sin, it is removed and is no longer a reason for our prayers hitting the ceiling. 

3. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. (1 John iii.21)

When you feel like God’s not answering you, allow Him to search your heart and try you as Darlene did. But don’t try to stir up guilt and sin that has already been dealt with.

If God brings something to your mind, be quick to confess that and repent. 

If you are sincere in allowing God to search you and no unconfessed sin comes to mind, that’s okay. When our heart, or our conscience, before God doesn’t condemn us we can have confidence toward God. In other words, we can have complete assurance that sin is not the root of this seeming separation and we can have boldness to come before Him in prayer and worship.  

4. God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Numbers xxiii.19)

This is our confidence. The Person and character of Jesus. He cannot lie. His words are 100% true.

These promises were spoken by our God who cannot lie. We can put our confidence in them.  

5. He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews xiii.5)

If God cannot lie, then this promise is not a lie. 

He will never leave us. 

Even though it might feel as though He has left you, even though it might feel like He’s not listening, those feelings aren’t true. God’s word is true.

Sin may put distance between us and God. But once sin has been left at the foot of the cross we can have confidence that though God may feel far away, He is always with us. 

I Do Not Need to Feel 

After being assured by the word of God that sin was not the root of her spiritual vacuum, Darlene strengthened herself in faith. 

“Lord, I believe all that the Bible says. I do walk by faith and not by sight. I do not need to feel You near, because Your Word says You will never leave me nor forsake me. Lord, I confirm my faith; I believe.’”The words of Hebrews 11:1 welled up, unbeckoned, to fill my mind: ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ The evidence of things not seen. Evidence not seen – that was what I put my trust in – not in feelings or moments of ecstasy, but in the unchanging Person of Jesus Christ."

Faith Rests on the Person of Jesus 

After Darlene’s declaration of faith, she felt her Lord once more speaking to her heart, assuring her of His presence. 

So what was the point of this? Was it simply a cruel joke? 

Darlene believed it was a spiritual attack from the enemy, keeping her from feeling the presence of the Lord. 

What we know for sure is that God used this experience to test, prove, and strengthen Darlene’s faith. She testified that this was one of the most important lessons she learned while in prison.

"I was assured that my faith rested not on feelings, not on moments of ecstasy, but on the Person of my matchless, changeless Savior, in Whom is no shadow caused by turning. In a measure I felt I understood what Job meant when he declared, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (13:15). Job knew that he could trust God because Job knew the character of the One in Whom he had put his trust. It was faith stripped of feelings, faith without trappings. More than ever before, I knew that I could ever and always put my trust, my faith, in my glorious Lord. I encouraged myself in the Lord and His Word." 

Next time you feel like your prayers don’t make it past the ceiling or that God doesn’t see or care about your situation, start by searching the scriptures for truth. 

Remind yourself of these five verses and if the Lord exposes sin, be quick to repent. 

Once you have repented, choose to believe and rest upon the unchanging nature of Jesus Christ. He has promised to never leave you nor forsake you. 

Let’s believe the One who cannot lie and loved us enough to reconcile our relationship with Himself.  

In Christ

Katie

*Quotes taken from Darlene Deibler Rose’s autobiography, Evidence Not Seen.


Those of you who have been reading along for a while will recognise Katie, from other guest posts, but for those who don't here's a bit about her:

Katie Stone is a girl who has a passion to declare the sufficiency of Jesus Christ with words. Through an online magazine, she first glimpsed the depth of joy and fulfilment that is found when we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. Simple truth, communicated through writing, changed her life. And ever since, Katie has had a desire to write and share this same powerful gospel with others. You can read more of her writing and support her at girlofjoy.org

Other Articles by Katie on Written Lives include:

- The Surest Thing
- Relinquishing Life