Why do people have a lot of despair even though they feel the presence of God?

Answer 1

The emotion of despair springs from doubt. Doubt may be felt emotionally even when there are no facts to support it. I have a fear of flying in airplanes, though I do fly occasionally. I fly because the facts indicate that flying is very safe. However, when the engines get loud and the plane is rumbling down the runway towards take-off, my emotions can override my intellect and cause me fear and apprehension. Although I know no facts have changed, I begin to doubt what I've already decided is true, and my faith in a heavy machine's ability to fly safely is shaken. Likewise, we know that God loves us, but there are times when, although nothing about that has changed, circumstances may nonetheless cause us to feel despair. Unless you've encountered new facts, it's purely emotional. Remember that even Christ despaired on the cross when he exclaimed "My God, why have you forsaken me?", so we can assume that no human should be immune to that emotion. But the question of why God would allow a person of strong faith to feel despair probably falls under the more general question of "why do bad things happen to good people". Part of the answer is that if He didn't, that would mean that bad things only happen to bad people, and in such a world there would be no bad people, which is to say there would be no free will, and no willful obedience to, or love for, God.