What To Do When God Feels Far Away

Yesterday in our online service we heard from our guest speaker Geoff Richardson. Geoff spoke to us from Psalm 22, about how to cope when it feels like God is far away. It was a powerful and encouraging message, so if you missed it you should definitely head over to our channel and watch it!

What really struck me from Geoff’s message was the way that David moves through phases of blame in his psalm. At first he blames God for abandoning him, but very quickly remembers that God is holy and mighty and has been at work in David’s ancestors for generations. Then he blames himself, but remembers that God has always been there with him, even since he was in the womb. Finally he blames his enemies, but then he remembers that God delivers him from his enemies.

Perhaps you have felt this way in the past, or maybe you feel this way right now. When hard times come, we naturally ask, “Why God? Why are you allowing this to happen to me?” When we go through periods of spiritual drought we wonder why God has distanced Himself from us. Maybe it’s because of that sinful thing we’ve been doing, or because we haven’t prayed enough. 

I remember once hearing Craig Groeschel use an illustration of a couple who were very much in love. They used to drive together in their truck, and as the husband drove, the wife would sit close to him holding his hand on the gearstick. As years passed, the wife noticed that they no longer sat close together in the truck – in fact, she now sat leaning against the window, as far away from her husband as possible. Hurt by this, she asked her husband why they no longer sat so close together. He responded, “Darling, I wasn’t the one who moved.”

If you’re feeling far from God today, or you’re feeling like God is far from you, it’s likely that He is not the one who moved. Whatever the reason is for the distance between you, if you choose to move in close again you can be assured that He is ready to welcome you.