When the feeling is gone and life is hard, we must still obey

I came across this quote the other day from C.S Lewis’s book The Screwtape Letters:

“Be not deceived, Wormwood, our cause is never more in jeopardy than when a human, no longer desiring but still intending to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe in which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”

C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

I read The Screwtape Letters in high school. I remember it being a very interesting book about how satan’s demons are working hard to attack Christians and make their walk ineffective. When I read the book I didn’t come away thinking wow, that book really spoke to me. But fast forword to now and finding this quote has really spoken to my heart and encouraged my soul.

It’s probably because I can relate so much to the truth in this quote. When the all the good feelings are gone and you still choose to obey God and keep following God; choosing the hard path and forsaking pleasure. That is the place that the devil and his demons see as dangerous. Because once you reach that place where you feel forgotten and forsaken but still choose God, that is when you have reached the place where you will forsake anything for God. The devil is no longer able to lure you away with the pleasures of this world and he doesn’t like that.

I appreciate how the in the quote from C.S Lewis’s book he mentions how the Christian is questioning why he is forsaken by God, but then still obeys. I have cried out to God questioning Him and saying “Why?, Why this? Why me?”. But even though I cry out and at times feel forgotten by God, I still choose to walk down this hard path that leads me away from the pleasures I long for. It makes the verse in the bible about denying yourself, and taking up your cross to follow Jesus a lot more real when you have to walk away from pleasure in order to follow Jesus.

If you feel forgotten and forsaken, take courage. When you keep obeying God even when you don’t feel like it, that is when you cause those demons to shutter. That is when God is looking down on you and smiling. You bring God great joy when you choose to still obey him through the deepest of waters and forsake the pleasures of the world. And remember, God is always with you as you follow Him even when you don’t feel him. Cry out and talk to Him. Let Him know how much you love Him and how much you need Him and keep on choosing him.

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Matthew 16:24