The first sentence of the reading from Jeremiah really  gets your attention:  “You duped me O Lord and I let myself be duped!”

When in  life have you felt betrayed or tricked by God? There may have been  at least one time when we experienced the seeming absence of God. At these times our tendency is to distance ourselves  from God! Why would we want to spend time with someone who seemingly “deserted” us?
The reality of life is that we often don’t feel God’s presence when we need it or desire it  because we become consumed by worldly  things.   It would be wonderful if we could magically make God appear whenever we want!

However, it usually doesn’t happen that way. When we are feeling alone and in need, do we continue to trust that God is with us even though we don’t “feel” God present?

These are the times when life truly is a “trust walk!” We don’t know, we don’t “feel” God, yet we continue to move ahead in trust.

We are able to trust that the God who has been with us before IS with us now---even if we don’t sense God’s presence! May we pray for the grace to trust our God who loves us deeply in these times of seeming “absence!”

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