When we lose something, we first look in the last place we saw it. Charles Spurgeon suggests that this advice applies when we seem to have lost the company of Christ. Though the Christian is secure in his salvation, God will sometimes withdraw his presence from us (Psalm 13:1). Does this describe your current condition? Was there a time when you walked in step with the Spirit, but now you seem to be walking alone? Spurgeon tells us to “look for Christ where you lost him.” He then gives a few possible places to check.
First, he suggests that we may have lost Christ’s presence because we have abandoned our time of prayer. If that is the case, then that is the first place we should return to find him. If you had a vibrant prayer life when you were aware that God was with you, but your prayer life has diminished, it is time to get back into the prayer closet.
Second, Spurgeon asks, did Jesus seem to grow distant because you began playing with sin? He suggests that the only way to find him is by giving up that sin and seeking the Holy Spirit to put to death those sinful desires driving you to it.
Third, he asks, “Did you lose him by neglecting the Scriptures?” If so, you know where to look. It is time to pick up the Word once again. Usually, in times like these, something else has grabbed our interest. Some of those things may not necessarily be bad, such as novels, business books, movies, and TV shows, but if they cause us to neglect the Word, we need to go back to where we were with him last.
We must not assume that every time God feels distant, it is because of something we have done. Sometimes God does it to strengthen our faith. He will occasionally put us in situations where we must trust his Word over our feelings, and seek his face even when he seems distant. However, many times, it is we who have moved, not God, when we seem to lose him. We are like a child wandering from his parents in a crowded market. We feel just fine as we chase our desires, until we realize we are alone.
Nothing is more precious in the believer’s life than God’s presence. When we first came to walk with him, we understood this, but after years of doing so, we can forget what it is like to walk alone, so we begin to neglect him. In times like these, remember the sweetness of your time with him and seek his face, even if it means backtracking to get back to where you last saw him.
Spurgeon ends by giving us this encouragement. With your whole heart seek him, and you will find him. Give yourself thoroughly to the search, and you will surely discover him to your joy and gladness again.
-D. Eaton
The Fight of Faith 