Are You there God? It's me, Kumam...
Are you there God? It’s me, Kumam….
In elementary or middle school, I read a book called Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. This book was so cool to me. It was about a young girl who was trying to navigate through the middle school years of her life. She was working through things like puberty, crushes, and any other thing that someone that age deeply cares about at that time. You remember. One thing, Margaret was working through as well was her religion. Her mother was Christian and her father was Jewish, so you could imagine how difficult it could’ve been when people asked her if she was going to join the YMCA or the Jewish Community Center on top of all the other things she was going through. But one thing that Margaret did, that I loved, was that she talked to God even though she wasn’t really sure that He was hearing her.
Have you ever felt like you were going through a dry season? A time where it seems like you’re reading your Bible, but you’re not getting anything and maybe, eventually you stop reading it? Maybe you’re like my girl Margie, where you’re praying but begin questioning if God is really listening. Or maybe you usually feel something, but at a time like this, you’re kinda just going through the motions? *in my best Logic voice* 🗣WHO CAN RELATE?
This happened to me in my spring semester of last year. I didn’t understand what was going on, but the only way I knew how to describe it was that it felt like it was quiet from God. I didn’t really tell people at first. To me, it was embarrassing. How could it be that a woman of God wasn’t hearing from God? I thought people would think less of me. I didn’t really know what to do, but I did get tired of feeling like my relationship with God was at a standstill. It was like when Margaret didn’t want to tell people she talked to God...She didn’t want people to think she was a “religious fanatic” so she kept it to herself. Something that’s really important to know, as a person and especially as a Christian, is that when you’re going through things keeping quiet can block you from potential help. People can’t read minds. It can be so easy and even maybe a habit for us to want to keep the things that we’re going through to ourselves, but something my bestie always reminds me is that’s exactly what community is for. It’s part of why God has placed people in our lives. We have helpers: people who will give us advice, people who can pray and intercede on our behalf, people who will check in, etc.
One thing I hope you take away from this really is to not be quiet about what you’re going through because people have been blessed to be blessings. The other thing I learned from this experience is that if you want to be elevated, you need to press in. I believe that God was waiting for me to draw nearer to Him, waiting for me to really say okay God I’m ready to fervently seek His face. And it wasn’t until I started being more intentional about wanting to know God more that I felt like I could hear Him again.
God doesn’t distance Himself from us. He promised to never leave or forsake us (Deut. 31:8). But we can’t expect that God will continuously spoon-feed us for our entire journey with Him. You don’t continue eating baby food as you grow up (unless you’re into that sort of thing), you begin eating solid foods as you mature. As we desire to grow in our faith, we need to expect that things will not always come easily to us. James 1:3 says: For you know that when your faith is tested it stirs up power within you to endure all things.
Don’t be ashamed of what you may be going through, as long as you understand that great things can come at the end of trials, you will come out better and stronger than you ever have been before.
Much love always,
Kumam 🧡