why does God....

Lewis asks why God seems to be far from us today in A Year with C.S. Lewis.

And it's true... God seems far away sometimes. Jesus felt it on the cross. Mother Teresa felt it most of her adult life. St John of the Cross called it the dark night of the soul. Those who are closest to God, it seems, experience it pretty often.

But what we might wonder instead about is God being present to us. We are sinful. We choose our selfishness over Him and over our fellow man every day. We don't deserve His presence, or heaven, or any of the blessings that He generously and graciously fills our lives with. But He does anyway. That should fill us with wonder.

Well, we maybe say to ourselves, "OK, yes, I get that. But when He's far away, I just want to know WHY. It makes no sense!" But, again, let's ask ourselves why He IS with us, ever present, constantly blessing us, every day. Why? Because He loves us. He is love, and just being Himself, He rains down His love on His beloved creatures. Not just us, the pinnacle of His creation, but all of His creatures, great and small.

We don't question "Why?" when He gives us so many good things. We only ask when He takes one of them away.

The pain is real. I don't mean to minimize it. Jesus wasn't whining when He asked why God abandoned Him. But we must know... we HAVE to trust... that He is doing this for our good, out of His love.

He can do no other thing.

Thank You, God, for blessing us, even in Your painful absence.