Dear Young Reader: God Has Not Left You

This letter may be targeted towards the young, but it is for the young and old alike.

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Dear young reader, this world is filled with thousands of trapping temptations, sins, and thoughts. You have fallen into one of these traps before, maybe you’re in one right now and you’re trying to get out of it.

It feels as if there is a hand over your mouth, a dagger that’s just too deep. You’ve thought time and time again, “I’ve disappointed God too many times for Him to be near me.” All you want to do is get out of the cycle, the terrible pain. You want to feel close to God, but it feels as if it could never happen… You’ve thought it, said it, or done it too many times for Him to ever forgive you. At night, you try to cry out to be healed, but you’re reminded, “no, why would God forgive a sinner like yourself? Your sins are too bad, done too many times for God to listen to you. He will never forgive you, you’ve hurt His heart one too many times.” You try to fight the words off, but you can’t help but feel they are true. Then, all of a sudden, in the midst of the night, a blinding light breaks through the darkened sky, saying,

Why do you believe these words? I will not forsake you, child. You are mine; I created you. Why do you trust these untrustable words? Would I ever say these things to you? My child, I loved you before you were born, I loved you when you commited your very first sin, and I love you right here in this moment. This moment that you doubt my love for you. I have always been near you, hugging you in my loving arms.”

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If you feel far away from God, it’s not God who is far away. It is you who has drifted away. Once upon a time, I felt like God was far away too (we all go through this), but it was really me who wasn’t putting the effort into Him and I’s relationship. It’s easy to feel like God is the cause of the hole in the relationship due to us not wanting to admit that we’re in the wrong. However, in a sense, this is a form of blaming God. The sooner you realize that God’s not the one to blame, the sooner you’ll realize that God is still there. One of my favorite Bible verses is Psalm 30:2 (NKJV), it says, “O Lord my God, I cried out to You and You healed me.” Quote this everyday, believing it with your whole heart. Don’t forget that somebody has struggled with the exact thing that you’re struggling with right now and guess what, God never left them. God says that He’ll never leave you and it’s up to you to believe that. The key to having a close relationship with God can be summarized in one word… Faith. I was encouraged the most when I finally broke down and told somebody the way I was feeling and also by imagining the faith of a child. We should believe in God like a child believes in Santa Claus, fully and refusing to listen to anyone saying he doesn’t exsist.

A child’s faith is the most powerful kind of faith, so when you feel like God isn’t there, be reminded of a child’s faith. Without faith, a relationship with God is not possible. With God, anything and everything is possible, including your chains being broken into a million pieces. You will get through this and when you do, it’ll be a story to share, no matter how little you may feel it is. In this moment, just be held. 🙂