Sometimes God feels distant for reasons we would rather not look at. The prophet Isaiah told the people of his day that their wrongdoing had put a separation between them and their God (Isaiah 59:2). That is not the reason for every silence, and nobody can tell you whether it is the reason for yours. But it is worth asking honestly.
The trouble is that most of us do not think of ourselves as disobedient. We are good people. We do not sleep around. We are not out getting drunk every weekend. We do not do terrible things, and we do not have many terrible thoughts.
But God wants more than good behaviour. He wants faithful obedience: taking up our cross daily, seeking Him, and obeying even in the small things. Measured that way, a quiet no counts too. Even silently refusing to open His Word, year after year, is a kind of disobedience, and it can leave us feeling that He has gone silent.
Today’s story is about a very good man. Read it as a discovery, not an accusation.
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Last time you wrote that you would:
This is where you will look back at yesterday. For today, just notice how you are coming into this.
An honest prayer
Pray this as it is, or in your own words.
Jesus, I have been good, but I have not always been Yours. Show me the one thing I have been holding back, and give me courage to let it go.
Read
Mark 10:17-27 (OTB)
17As He set out on a journey, a man ran up to Him, knelt before Him, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18Jesus replied, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honour your father and mother.’” 20He said to Him, “Teacher, I have observed all these from my youth.” 21Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said, “One thing you lack: go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow Me.” 22At this, the man's face fell, and he went away grieving, for he had great wealth. 23Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How difficult it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” 24The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how challenging it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26They were even more astonished and said to one another, “Who then is able to be saved?” 27Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God; for with God, all things are possible.”