What Do I Do When I Don’t Feel God?
As one of the seemingly most common questions asked, this appears to be one of the strongest dilemmas that Christians face in their walk with God. Since God is a God of love and compassion, He will speak to our emotions at times, as it’s one of His ways of connecting with us as emotional human beings. That being said, feeling the presence of God is a gift, and is not meant to be the foundation upon which we base our faith in Him. Our faith and hope in God have to come from something deeper and more stable that our mere human emotions can ever be. Our faith and hope have to stem from what we know to be true about God.
As I’ve heard it put before, “sometimes we have to rely on what we know about God rather than what we feel about Him” (@elijah.lamb). Our emotions - our feelings about circumstances around us can always be flawed. The Word of God, however, is always reliable. This is because He is always reliable. Our emotions are always changing, however, God’s Truth is constant. We know that what He says about Himself is true, because He is truth. “His Word is alive and active because He Himself is alive and active.”
Often when we’re not feeling God, we attempt to run away from Him even more. We stop getting into His Word. We stop going to church. We stop talking to Him. In reality, these things are what fuel our relationship with God and can help take us out of those stuck spots. Though doing these things isn’t always a guarantee that you’ll suddenly feel as on fire for God as you would like every time, you’ll be met with His “everlasting peace that surpasses all understanding, which will guard your heart and mind” (Philippians 4:7).
The wonderful thing is, God has given us His Word as an invaluable resource filled with stories and wisdom that allow us to connect with Him and dive deeper into a rich knowledge of who He is. Relationships that are solely based upon feeling lead to disorder. In order for a relationship to truly work past the “honeymoon phase” (referring to any relationship dynamic), there needs to be a level of trust and knowledge that both parties have towards each other.
It appears that we often forget that God is a relational God, as shown perfectly by the Holy Trinity between God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He’s not a distant ruler who wants you to blindly do what He says out of fear of what happens if you don’t. He wants a relationship with you. The way that we go about our relationships should (ideally) come from the example that God has set for us concerning the way that He unconditionally loves and values those He comes across, whether they were seemingly deserving of these things or not.
While there’s nothing wrong with having emotions or being aware of what they might be trying to tell you about your circumstances (in fact, that’s a good thing to be aware of) - we must always keep in mind that God’s truth and character go immensely deeper than our emotions. God gave us emotions so we could righteously use them. The key is being able to find the balance between feeling and fact. As a reminder, feelings do not equate to fact.
Walking solely by emotions leads to impulsivity and destructive behavior. God’s Word says that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:23). Notice how certain fruits of the Spirit concern our emotions that are driven by how we choose to look at the world in light of Him - however, they are filtered through lenses such as faithfulness and self-control that come from knowing God’s truth and believing it. Seemingly, this appears to be the balance between feeling God that comes into alignment in knowing God.
So, to the Christian who’s just not quite “feeling God” right now: know that God’s immeasurable amount of love for you is not determined by your emotions, but rather by the truth of who He says He is and the faithfulness of His character. His Word is always there as a guide and reminder of who He is and your identity in Him. “You will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13), so stay constant in drawing near to Him, despite your doubts. God wants all of you and your brokenness, and you can rest assured knowing that “feeling off” about God’s presence and love for you is only true in feeling, not in fact.
