Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Spiritual Deserts

No, not Death by Chocolate. I mean those dry places, the lonely valleys we travel through where spiritual direction is difficult to discern. It seems like a lot of folks are going through that right now. Messy Christian and Reepicheep are two people on my blogroll that have had a bit of it.

My first instinct is to start giving advice on how to be happier or why people are going through trouble. I usually manage to shut up before I inflict permanent spiritual harm. You never know who to blame, but the tendency is to blame the guy in the relationship that didn't create the universe. Blaming someone is not a way to bring comfort. You just end up being one of Job's comforters, I guess. What I really should be doing is just sympathizing/empathizing and let them know they aren't alone.

About the only advice I can give is this: God knows what you are going through. Spend some time with him and ask him to show you what you need to do to get things right. Jesus didn't call the Holy Spirit a spiritual counselor for nothing. If you do have wrongs that need to be settled, the Spirit can also convict you of your wrongs. God is good and he is always faithful and waiting. Go to him.

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