The Best Friend You Never Knew Part 9: When God Seems Distant

LDS Perfect Days Podcast

As we read in the previous two posts (”The Best Friend You Never Knew Part 7: ‘Ye Never Knew Me’” and ”The Best Friend You Never Knew Part 8: The Non-Judgmental Savior”), we stand rejected by Yeshua the minute we withhold mercy, or unleash judgment, upon another (see here for more). Also, the more merciful you are towards others, the more merciful God is with you (1 Corinthians 13:2). The less judgmental you are towards others, the less judgmental God is with you. So, it seems to me that God’s primary judgment criteria regarding you is best summarized in 1 Samuel 16:7: “for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” The advantage of this criteria: “charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8) Judging or being uncharitable towards a person doesn’t define who they are; it defines who you are. And with the best possible definition you can have -- “he/she was non-judgmental and full of charity towards others” -- you are far more aligned with the Savior. In my opinion, it’s at this point that not only dialoguing with Him, but also seeing Him, becomes an inevitability: Unfortunately, there are times when you may be exerting all of your heart, might, mind and strength towards being more charitable and less judgmental, and heaven is still silent. This blog has addressed this issue several times. Here are a few possibilities...