Reading from Job 23..."Oh that I knew where I might find Him" (v.3).

A Job moment...times I felt God was so far away...at times, moments stretched into long, dry seasons. I've often thought of Elijah at the brook Cherith in these times. God sent him there, then the brook dried up!

But during even these times my faith was strengthened when I just refused to stop believing, refused to give in to how I was feeling. And yet I knew even that resolve came from Him because everything in me just wanted to give up.

Struggling to get up in the mornings, struggling to pray...but when I stopped struggling and just quieted my heart before Him, that strong sense of knowing, just knowing He in fact was very near...it would settle me. I did not feel His presence. I did not feel much at all for the numbness that could envelop me. But I would know. I would know, and then remember His promises, promises of His love, His faithfulness...a sense of deep, abiding love...love that stays, that won't let you go, that disallowed any thoughts and feelings of abandonment. Regardless of how I felt, I had Him...more importantly, He had me.

How amazing is that sense of knowing and being known, especially when you cannot feel.

"...and the sheep follow HIm for they know His voice."
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."
John 10:4, 27