Have you ever had a time of deep sorrow or even despair? In my ministry I have periodically had members ask if God was truly listening to them. In these moments of darkness it is typical to feel as though God doesn’t care for you because you feel as though He is no where near the places that you are.
You are not alone.
When we look at Romans 7 & Romans 8 we find a time of deep spiritual struggle. Paul wrestles with wanting to do good but not being able to. Paul wrestles with grace and whether or not it is available to him. Paul wrestles with prayer and what it should be like. Paul wrestles with the role of the Holy Spirit and more. We must acknowledge that there are difficult moments in life as well as in our spiritual journey towards God. Timothy Keller points out the following about these moments:
“There are seasons for great delight (springtime blossoms?) and for wisdom and maturity (summertime fruit?). However, there are also spiritual winter times, when we don’t feel God to be close, though our roots may still be firmly in His truth” (Prayer: Experiencing Awe & Intimacy with God, p. 147).
Then at the end of the spiritual wrestling match Paul comes up with something very profound:
“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 NIV)
This week we continue with the fourth message
in our Prayer sermon series by
analyzing praying in dark seasons.
What does it look like? How does it feel?
Should I give up?
We will be looking for answers to these
questions and many more.
May you be richly blessed by this week’s
study of God’s Word.
Grace and Peace,
– Pastor Geraldo
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