It is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that He has abandoned us. There have been numerous times where I have heard people say that they don’t feel God’s presence anymore. They feel like God is far away from them. They feel like God has abandoned them. But the Bible tells us that God is with us, and He will not leave us or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6).

When we feel like God has abandoned us, it is not that He has, but it is we who has turned away from Him. It is us who has chosen in some way to back away from Him. We begin to feel like he is not there, and we choose to pray less or not at all; we choose not to read the Bible and not spend time seeking Him. Interestingly, we think God has departed from us, and in fact, we are the ones who have left Him.

Once we know in our hearts that we have accepted His salvation and strive to grow closer to Him each day, then these promises are for us. The Lord will not forsake His people; he will not abandon His heritage (Psalm 94:14). We can cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). We are to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not lean on our own understanding. We are to acknowledge Him in all, and He will make straight our path (Proverbs 3:5-6).

God loves us and wants to guide us onto a path back towards Him, but He is not a forceful God. He allows us the ability to have free choice. And so sometimes, little by little, we can choose not to follow Him, and we don’t even realise it. This choice is not a one-time choice but a choice we make each day. A choice to choose to live our lives for Jesus or a choice to live according to our own ways. When we choose the path of our own way, we turn our backs on God and sometimes cannot see Him or hear Him anymore.

So, beware that we need to choose Him daily. We need to remind ourselves of why we serve Him and do not get weary in following Him. We need to remember that growing in a life with Him may not always be easy because growing better can be challenging, but a life without Him is eternally worst. We do not want to choose our way from under his protection and find ourselves alone to take on the dangers and the roaring lion of the world who wants to devour us.