Jesus, You Still There?
By: David Ramos
Tags: Jesus, Self Help, Christian, Spirituality, God

It just feels like all my letters are being sent straight to the spam.

I’m not asking for welfare or even for some answers to my most curious questions. It’s just lonely when I go to church, hang out with friends, and even now, when I go to the gym to workout.

Even on busy days and family events, I will still feel alone.

I just want to hear how you got me, that intense feeling when I’m speaking in tongues, the beautiful warmth you give when I hear your heart. Lately, I’ve been disconnected, and it is difficult to go back to where we were connected when I’ve been wandering so long.

This isn’t a story about how someone got lost in drugs, sex, porn, or other pleasure that is alluded to with testimonials. Instead, this feeling was different than before; it wasn’t a distraction that I could just avoid. This was something I needed to overcome.

It was pride.

Two things will lead you away from God; it is:

1) Distractions (external)

2) Yourself (internal)

As Christians, we need to understand that when we just define distractions or the temporary pleasures around us as the only separator between God and us, we become blind. Distractions aren’t the only things that are temporary around us; our bodies are also fleeting.

We are not eternal, and the good news is our God’s will is.

I was trying so desperately to achieve a purpose, calling, and acceptance on my own, hoping that God would come and join me. Instead, I should be putting down my own attempts and join God with His purpose.

This is why I felt so lonely…

I have God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. They never left me. It was just that I became so full of myself that I thought I didn’t need to chase them but instead have them follow me.

That’s where my loneliness comes from. If you’re reading and felt what I’m feeling, then this is where your loneliness comes from as well.

This is a long life we live, and sometimes we hit our strides and spring for a while, but do not look down while forgetting to look up. Make sure you’re following God and not waiting for Him to follow you.

God isn’t going to meet you at your finish line. He is already at His and waiting on you to join Him.

What can you do to draw closer to God?

1. Stop, drop and meditate

This is so key, just like when you’re on fire. In elementary school, they told you to stop, drop, and roll. Well, our soul is on fire when it is not close to God. Jesus keeps our temperature in check, so instead of rolling, we need to stop the brakes on everything going up in our head and stop to meditate.

Meditation by breathing allows the body to be aware of our lives’ simple truths, such as meditating on our relationship with God. It might be tempting to impress God by reciting everything He did for your life, but don’t focus on that. Just let that be the primer of your meditation. Your praise is to lead you to God. The core of your mediation should be to see yourself as a part of God’s plan.

Breathe-in and breathe-out. Do not allow any distractions in your mind.

2. Your pain is temporary, so invest time in something else

We decide to do things on our own because we become hurt by what is happening around us. Feeling the pain of so many people, we think that God is doing nothing. Instead, it is the opposite: we are doing nothing.

If we are going to promote real change in our situation and circumstances, it is best to buy into God’s plans over our own.

3. Remove yourself, then include God

Including God in our prayers is different from including Him in our life. What if you prayed to your boyfriend or girlfriend every day but never thought to buy them a latte, get them gifts, call to talk about life, or even play cup pong every once in a while? That would be a short-lived relationship.

You wouldn’t wonder why you’re single because you would see why. In this case, with everything going on around me, the second I remove my own feeling and thoughts on what should be done and let God do it, everything changes.

4. Lastly, get some rest

After applying steps 1 through 3, you should know that you don’t need to be up and active all the time to make miracles happen. God has your back, and I guarantee you that you will be happier with your plans when God is guiding you then when you are guiding yourself.

Take it easy, get some sleep, and enjoy getting the burden lifted off your chest. We all work hard, but there is no pride in that; satisfaction is only in the work of God.

Disclaimer: Faith is a marathon, not a sprint. This isn’t past tense because I still do wonder if Jesus is still there, but now I just know that isn’t because of Him, but because of me.