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Lisa Duffy: A Million Unheard Souls

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6 Unusual Ways To Experience God’s Love When You’re Filled With Doubt

6 Unusual Ways To Experience God’s Love When You’re Filled With Doubt

Last updated on: May 5, 2016 at 1:53 pm by Lisa Duffy

6 Unusual Ways To Experience God’s Love When You’re Filled With Doubt 2016-05-05T13:53:12-04:00 Lisa Duffy

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Are you struggling with discouragement, today?

Photo by Will van Wingerden, Unsplash.Com, CC

You’re certainly not alone, if so. At times, life’s problems can be overwhelming and make you feel as if you’re sinking in a pit of quicksand with no one to help you out. Where is God when you need him?

At the weekly General Audience just yesterday, Pope Francis touched upon something that many who are suffering right now might doubt… He said, “God loves each and every one of us, He is totally extraneous to the “throwaway culture” of today and like the good shepherd he does not want a single person to be lost.”

Speaking on behalf of any man or woman who might be going through a divorce or trying to rebuild their lives after one, I can say there was a time I did not believe this to be true. I certainly felt as if I had been “thrown away” and did not matter. I was also very angry that God had allowed that to happen. The Holy Father’s words, if I had heard them at that time, would have fallen on deaf ears.

But there is a special and significant meaning in times of doubt, and that is that faith requires darkness. How can you understand what it means to have hope if you haven’t experienced discouragement or despair? To doubt God’s love for you or his presence in your life is actually an opportunity to discover him in a new way.

Not Your Typical Search

Because I’ve gone through this exercise many times, myself, I’d like to share with you some of the ways I was able to experience God’s love for me and his presence in my life in new and unexpected ways. If you are struggling with dark days or feeling abandoned by him, I encourage you to take each one of these steps and experience God in these ways:

1. Contemplate Your Fingerprints

Stop for a moment and look at your hands. Pay special attention to your fingerprints. Now, consider this: No one in the history of time has ever had your fingerprints. They are as unique and unrepeatable as snowflakes. Why would God go to the trouble of doing this? Because you are special to him. Because he created you, he knows you, and he loves you. You are not just one of many, you are his beloved.

2. Consider the Cycles of Nature

A great way to experience God’s presence is in nature, but not just the usual gazing at landscapes and marveling at their beauty. Take into consideration the natural order of our environment, for example, trees breathe in carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. In turn, humans breathe in oxygen and emit carbon dioxide. It’s a beautiful and harmonious collaboration between man and nature, but not one you or I created or control. This beautiful design God gave us to co-exist with nature reveals his great love for us and his enduring presence in our lives.

3. Hear His Voice in Those Around You

Many years ago, I was visiting a sick neighbor at a time when I was particularly stressed out. My goal was to comfort her, but imagine my surprise when she looked at me and clutched my face with her hands and said, “Be happy!” I hadn’t said a word to her about my problems, yet, she spoke words of encouragement. That’s how God works at times, he speaks through those around us.

4. Reflect On Past Trials

It’s not good to remain stuck in the past, but in times of personal struggle, there is merit to looking back at previous struggles to note the good things that have come out of those circumstances and to see how God was working in your life at the time, even though you couldn’t see it then. These things offer hope and confidence that, just as he didn’t leave you an orphan then, he won’t now, either.

5. Read Scripture

Okay, this one is not so unusual, but it’s still a good one.

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).

We know that in everything God works for good[a] with those who love him,[b] who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

The Lord your God is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing (Zephania 3:17).

Need I say more?

6. Pray

Sometimes God distances himself from us, not to leave us alone, but to draw us nearer to him. He wants us to seek him, most likely to find him in a new place so we can experience a new expression of his love for us. If you are experiencing doubts, you can say a simple, honest prayer such as, “God, I feel far away from you and my doubts are many. Help me to find you again.”

For more helpful resources for healing after divorce, visit LisaDuffy.Com.

how to heal after divorce

Lisa Duffy

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