Sometimes we won’t sense God’s presence. Those are difficult times. In the midst of trouble, Job said: ‘If I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him’ (vv.8-9 NIV). Job felt far from God. Yet despite his inability to feel God, he ultimately decided that: ‘He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold’ (v.10 NIV). Difficult days demand decisions of faith. David said, ‘When I am afraid, I put my trust in you’ (Psalm 56:3 NIV). When we can’t understand the ways of God, we need to trust in the unchanging and loving character of God. So, we need to build up our trust and understanding of God when we’re in the good times, so that we’ve got a foundation for those tough times. If we don’t then we’ll have fluctuating faith. When things are going great we’ll be able to see God’s goodness and faithfulness, but when things go wrong and life gets hard we’ll ask questions like ‘why me?’ or ‘does God still love me?’ And if we’re asking questions like that, we’re unlikely to make the decision to trust in God and have faith. So how do we avoid fluctuating faith? We need to immerse ourselves in the Bible. There are so many verses which tell us the nature of God. They tell us that He is good, faithful, loving, accepting, fair, and working everything ultimately for good. And that’s true no matter what we’re facing. In changing times, we need to stand confidently on the unchanging character of God.

What Now?

Go through your Bible and make a list of God’s characteristics. Keep the list on hand to read through on tough days.