If we closely observe the lives of people around us we would fathom that life is a series of perceived problems: Either we are in one now, or we're just coming out of one, or we're getting ready to get entangled into another one.
When things don't go our way or when we go through pressures during the course of our daily lives, we generally tend to wrongly question the existence of the omnipotent Supreme Father.
Our mind gets riddled with questions like - Where is God? Isn't He interested in me anymore? Has He forgotten about me? Doesn't He care what is going on in my life?
At such times we need to recognise that- Our Feelings are Deceiving Us: When stuck in the midst of severe suffering, we need to recognise that we can’t see properly in times like this. Our feelings completely distort our world view and vision. It is as though we are wearing extremely dark glasses all of the time. Although light surrounds us, we cannot see it because of the dark glasses.
We Must Not Trust Our Thoughts and Imperfect Senses: Bearing in mind that our feelings have become distorted, we must remind ourselves daily that we cannot trust our feelings nor pay them any heed – they are tricking and misleading us. This is hard, I know, because throughout our lives we have learned to listen to our feelings and let them guide us to some degree or another. But what may work for a healthy person does not apply to someone suffering from depression. We need to learn not to place any significance on what we are feeling, and recognise that we may remain in this condition for a while. But be encouraged, this phase does not last forever. When our exhausted mind and nervous system heal, whether this takes months or years, our feelings will return to normal. We will feel God’s presence and love again, and we will take comfort from His word again.
We must not use our Circumstances as a Basis to Conclude that God has Abandoned us: We need to realise that our circumstances are not an indication of whether God is with us or not. Firstly, the Vedic texts assures us that God will never leave us nor forsake us. Secondly, it tells us that we will face trials, and that God will use these for good in our lives, and that He will comfort us in and through them.
We Need to Keep Things in Perspective: We need to remind ourselves that this world and its troubles are only temporary. We who trust in and cling to God have a wondrous hope – one day we shall spend eternity in heaven and see the face of God everyday - a perfect place filled with love, joy and peace. We will also have a brand new body that is perfect in every way. When we consider the unimaginable, eternal riches that await us in heaven, the temporary trials we endure on the earth fade into insignificance. This is because we know that He is preparing us for His all blissful service in eternity.
Trust in What We Know - the Absolute Truth, Not in What We Feel: So if we cannot rely upon our feelings nor upon the way in which we interpret our circumstances, what can we rely upon? We can rely upon what we know and believe - what is the Absolute Truth. We know and believe that God is with us (although we can’t see it), we know and believe that He loves us (although we can’t see it), and we know and believe His word is all powerful (although we can’t see it and things seem to be out of control). We know these things because the Scriptures tell us, and because the Holy Spirit in us testifies to that fact. The supreme fact remains that God is with us, that God loves us, and that His Word is all-powerful. It does not matter that we cannot see these things while depressed or our world view has been distorted by suffering.
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