What do you do when you feel nothing for the faith you came into. I am a lapsed catholic, I am not a cradle catholic but was received into the church nearly 30 years ago. I am here to see if I can feel anything for my faith again but at the moment I feel nothing within my heart and I was just wondering what do you do and what can you do when you feel this way?
First, do not judge your feelings or lack thereof.
You can say, "I don’t have feelings for … " but I challenge you not to assume that " … “therefore there is something wrong” follows.
Here I call upon your trust in the Lord, that His Spirit is, in fact, guiding all of the Body of Christ toward whatever purposes God has.
That allows you to avoid guilt or anxiety as a result of your feelings. Just because most people look at “empty” as intrinsically less good than “full,” doesn’t mean you have to.
Sometimes empty is what you want. Like if you’re getting new furniture, get the old out first. Then you are empty, and are open and able to receive what is new. As long as you cling to the old, or are just too lazy or even incapable of moving it out, whatever the reason the result is the same.
Lately, when I hear people say, “I give up,” I rejoice inside, if not on the outside. Giving up, surrendering, is the first step toward allowing others to come in and take the controls – including God.
God gives us free will, and with it we can take the wheel ourselves, or step to the side and let God put a hand on the wheel, too. That means we must not be so strong in turning the way we think we should, that we overpower God. God could easily make a car turn without touching the wheel, but He doesn’t. God is a gentleman, and doesn’t come in and take over unless you a) invte him, b) prepare for Him by getting your old furniture out of the way. God likes an empty house, because He can decorate and furnish it if you let him. He doesn’t need furniture Himself, so no need to think you must have a nice chair and other hospitality, before you can invite God over. God is a come-as-you-are. Besides, you might spend your paycheck on a chair for God, but fail to get His favorite color. I don’t know… it isn’t about figuring out a nice gift to give God, it’s about letting God come in and show you what needs to be done; He will let you know if He needs anything from you – chances are He won’t.
So I take your emptiness as more likely a Good thing rather than Bad thing. Better yet, since Good and Bad are judgmental, let’s just say that I think your emptiness indicates a useful starting point for build a strong spiritual house from the foundation up.
Alan
