My sisters in Christ- I am up against one of the HARDEST sins I have faced...apathy. I find myself on the throne of my life instead of the Lord and I just am having a hard time caring. Maybe I am tired....I don't really know why- but I NEED to care...I NEED to have the Lord on the throne of my life. It is HIS throne, not mine! Those of you who have gone through this spiritual desert, what did you do to stand against this? I confess this regularly, and am talking to the Lord about it, but I have yet to shake it. NOTHING will fill emptiness except Him. NOTHING. Can you speak to me from your own experiences? How did you find victory? I don't think apathy is one of the 7 deadly sins, but it should be FIRST!

Blyth,
I know you are a caring person and sometimes I think God allows us to have some "down time" in our busy schedules. Remember the most important thing to do is to pray and keep God at the center of your life. You know that when you don't know what or how to pray, the Holy Spirit interprets "with groanings" to God and your prayers will be answered.
Please keep us updated on your progress and know you are in our prayers.
Blessings
Bev

Joy (a.k.a. Bev)

The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress and my Deliverer; my God is my Rock in Whom I take refuge. He is my Shield and the Horn of my Salvation. Psalm 18:2

Blyth,

Look to the great men and women of the Bible for strength.

Can't we imagine the "desert" Moses must have felt as God sidelined him to 40 years tending his father-in-law's sheep? He had been NEXT IN LINE TO THE EGYPTIAN THRONE, but suddenly, he was a nothing, a nobody, on the backside of a desert somewhere. FOR 40 YEARS.

We KNOW about Job's "desert." And Ezekial prayed to die. And Jonah's reluctance. And Moses in his own literal (and I'm sure, spiritual) wilderness.

Even our Lord Jesus in His humanity cried out, "My God! My God! WHY hast Thou forsaken me?"

I heard a minister say not long ago that even in your "desert," the Lord is working and is ever-present. It seems to be His style, as a kind of testing of our faith, to withdraw from His child periodically, as He "appeared" to do with Job. Job thought He was absent, but as we know, He was very much present.

Trust in the Lord even when you can't track Him on your radar . . . He's right there. He hasn't moved.

Plus, there are seasons of the heart, just as assuredly as there are seasons of the earth. We, too, experience our "winters," just as the earth. But, as in the words of "The Rose":

"Just remember in the winter,
Far beneath the bitter snow —
Lies the seed that with the Son's [edit mine!] love,
in the spring, becomes the rose."



I conclude with one of my favorite verses:

"But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. (Job 23:10)


Remember, Blyth, He knows the way you take. The snow eventually melts, and the buds reappear anew.

Sparrow - great reply. I think I would ask myself. Is God asking me to do something or change something in my life right now? Or is He asking me to do -- nothing -- right now. Is this apathy from *me* or from Him? If the Holy Spirit is asking you, imploring you, warning you to do something NOW and you are not then it's time to sound the inner alarm systems and break through whatever it is that's nailing your feet to the ground (I've been in this scenario many times and been hurt everytime I ignored the Holy Spirit's leading). However if God is asking nothing from you - outside of just you (i.e. relationship) then I would look for just that during this *down* time. As sparrow said, many times God does His best work in our hearts and lives when we are doing 'nothing' but waiting on Him.

1 Cor 13:13 (NLT)
"and the greatest of these is love."

Hey Blyth, shoot me your email address again (galipfoundation@earthlink.net). My email address for you no longer works!

1 Cor 13:13 (NLT)
"and the greatest of these is love."

Thank you so much for your replies- it really helps to be encouraged. I guess I have just thought it was all me...I did not look at any other possibilities. In Him....Blyth