Stripped Bare (Just a desperate plea)

Lately, I've found myself slipping, becoming more and more separated from God. I go to Bible Study, and it lifts me a little, but I'm still stumbling around lost in the desert, searching for something. I sit in the Church pew on Sunday, wishing I could feel Him, at least a little. I open my Bible and find only words - no hope, or joy, or comfort.

My heart grows colder, darker, lonelier. I reach out, but there is no hand there to grab mine and pull me from this pit. There is no light, showing me the way out. No voice offering peace or comfort. I'm alone. Separated. Afraid.

I fall to my knees in desperation. I cry out in hunger. The pain inside slowly turns to numbness, to nothingness. And yet I still cry within.

Oh, Lord, where have You gone? Why have You left me alone, enveloped in shadows? Why have You stripped from me this love and joy? Why do You withhold from me peace and comfort? Why have You left me without a single strand of hope to cling to? Please help me feel Your presence once again. Bring Your light back to me. Dress me again in the warmth of joy, peace, hope and love.