We have been looking at how to respond in a season of disinterest in God; when we feel no desire for him. Very often, although not always, these seasons of spiritual apathy occur in times of relative comfort—when we are untested by trials and unworried by difficult circumstances. In other words, we often do not want God when we feel no need for him.

The Lord warned the ancient Israelites about the shadow side of comfort. After rescuing them from the horrors of slavery in Egypt and the trials of the wilderness where they cried out to God, he reminded them how the ease of life in the Promised Land could lead them away from him. “When your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 8: 13- 14).

This is why James told us to respond to trials with joy. He understood that discomfort can be a blessing as it drives us to dependency upon God; it awakens our desire for him in a way that comfort rarely can. Does this mean we should intentionally inflict pain upon ourselves like cloistered monks from the Middle Ages? Of course not, but it does mean we are to receive struggles as the sparks God uses to rekindle our life with him. We may need to be pushed out of our comfortable circumstances to rekindle our vision of God. As Gregory the Great observed, in our trials our renewed desire for God “transforms the suffering we undergo, and even the sins we continue to commit, into stages of growth.” What sparks have come your way lately?