This letter is in response to the letter received from Jake H. from Pocatello, Idaho titled A Struggling Heart in a Broken World
Dear Jake,
First, thank you for writing. It takes courage to be honest about doubt, especially in a time when many pretend that faith is easy. I want you to know that your letter is not the confession of a man who has lost faith, but of one who still longs for the truth. The very fact that you are troubled by the moral decay you see around you shows that the Spirit of God has not abandoned you. He is still stirring your heart toward righteousness.
You are right about the world. Scripture tells us plainly that “in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1). We were warned that men would be “lovers of their own selves… unthankful, unholy, without natural affection.” What you are seeing is not proof that God has failed, but that His Word has always been true. Sin blinds the eyes and hardens the heart, and our culture is bearing the fruit of that rebellion. The decay you see is not the absence of God’s sovereignty, but the result of mankind’s refusal to honor Him.
Still, I understand your pain. It is not easy to watch what feels like the collapse of everything we once thought sacred. It can make God seem distant. Yet, Jake, He is not far. The prophet Habakkuk once looked upon his own nation’s corruption and cried out, “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!” (Habakkuk 1:2). But God answered him, reminding him that He was still at work, even when the world looked beyond repair. The same God who heard Habakkuk hears you.
Faith is not always a steady flame. Sometimes it flickers. Sometimes it feels like a single glowing coal in a sea of ashes. But the Lord does not despise a faint flame. “A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench” (Isaiah 42:3). If you will turn toward Him, even with trembling hands, He will not turn you away. Christ Himself said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
You said you can no longer feel God. That is not unusual for those who are growing in faith. Feelings often fade so that trust might deepen. God sometimes withdraws the sense of His presence not to punish, but to strengthen us. The Puritans called it “the dark night of the soul.” Yet even in the dark, the shepherd guards his flock. When you cannot see Him, He still sees you.
The hope we cling to is not in the world, Jake, but in the One who has overcome it. The decay of the age is temporary, but Christ reigns eternally. Lift your eyes to the cross again. There, in the place where the world’s greatest evil met God’s greatest love, you will find that faith is not built on what the world does, but on what Jesus has already done.
Do not run from the church, even when she seems compromised. Find a fellowship that holds to Scripture, that prays earnestly, that speaks truth with love. Let them walk with you. You do not need to fight this battle alone. God uses His people as instruments of His comfort, just as Paul wrote, “that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God” (2 Corinthians 1:4).
Brother, your heart is not lost. It is being refined. The Lord disciplines those He loves, and He often leads us through confusion to bring us to conviction. If you seek Him, even in tears, He will meet you there. And when you come through this valley, your faith will not only be restored, it will be unshakable. I will pray for you Jake.
In grace and truth,
Rev. Paul Leming
Redeemed In Faith Reformed Church
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