Our Ministry

MAUNDY THURSDAY • APRIL 1
Deuteronomy 31:6

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

One early October morning this past fall, I rose to find frost covering the ground. I was reminded again of how there are seasons of life. The frost on the ground told me that
winter is coming and that the season of summer was over. I could not help but feel a bit
reluctant at the thought of the coming winter. Our winters here in northwestern Ontario are long and cold, and darkness comes early in the day.

I was also reminded of the seasons of life that we go through and how these seasons
of life can often include a time of spiritual darkness—or spiritual deadness. My thoughts
went back to a time when I went through my own season of spiritual darkness. At that
time I felt it would never end, especially when it lasted for a few years. Many times I felt
as if God was absent from my life. It was a very lonely and often a fearful place to be. Yet, one of the things I consistently did was to keep turning my heart to God—even in my pain. I turned to God even when He felt silent in my life. It was another two years before I started to feel better and started to feel God was active in my life again. Did that mean that God was not there for me?

Years later, as I look back to that time, I can see that God was there with me. God
was there with me even when it did not feel like He was. Larry Crabb, in his book called
Shattered Dreams, says that when we go through a season of difficult times, when our
hopes and dreams are shattered, and when all we feel is despair, uncertainty and pain, we need to cling to truth and not feelings. The truth is that “God exists.” He exists in heaven. He exists on earth. He exists in the hearts of those of us who believe that Jesus is the Savior! I see now that it was what I was doing when I consistently turned to God in my pain even when it felt like He was not there. I understand today that this “season in my life” was part of the bigger picture of what God wanted to do in and through my life.

Jesus knows what it is like to feel that God is absent when you are in your deepest
pain. The day of His crucifixion, just before He gave up His spirit, He cried out, My God,
my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Jesus, Himself, felt His Father
was absent at the darkest time in His life. Yet, it was that moment in His life that was so
central to the big picture that encompassed all humanity for all eternity.

Are you going through a “Season of Life” today? What in your life makes you feel
that God is absent? What struggles are you going through today that makes you feel God is silent? Be encouraged and know that God is right there with you—right where you are. May this season of Lent be a reminder to you today that our Heavenly Father is with you no matter how you feel and that it is a season that will end.

O may our whole world hear the glorious Gospel of redemption and atonement and
find in Christ the peace that passes all understanding.

Dear Heavenly Father, in your grace and mercy we pray today that you would help us to
be faithful in our walk with you. Help us to know that you are always with us no matter
where we are in life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Linda Martin
Ministry Partner
My People Int’l
Sioux Lookout, Ontario