Episode #368 Learning to Notice God When He Feels Far – God Is Already Here

Hey, friend. Have you ever felt like God was distant, even though your belief hadn't changed? You still believe in who he is and what the Bible says, but it feels like he's removing himself from you. He is pulling away and he feels far even when you know that's not actually true. I've been there. I think a lot of us can relate to that, and that's what we're talking about in this episode and actually in this series, because God is already here. Even in the times when we don't notice him or we can't feel him, or what we feel actually feels like the opposite of God being close and active and engaged with us. And that tension can happen for a lot of reasons. But the focus that I wanna share with us today is simply the awareness that we can practice becoming more aware of God to notice that he's there, even in the times that we don't feel like it.

Oftentimes, that sense of distance that we feel isn't actually absence, it's simply our lack of awareness. And that can be because life is full or circumstances are hard, or God isn't demonstrating his care or answering prayers in the way that we long for him to. Sometimes it can be a limited awareness because we just haven't had the moment or haven't seized the moment to slow down and notice that he is there. He is active in those circumstances.

There are times that I can look back on and reflect on how God's presence for me felt almost tangible, palpable. I had a sense of his peace and his comfort, or his closeness. Yet, there are other times where I don't feel him in the same way, but that doesn't mean that God is gone. It's simply that I haven't noticed him there in that moment, or at least not yet. And every moment gets to become one of those “but not yet” type experiences with God because he is not far from us. God is actually already present everywhere that you are.

I wanna invite you to consider that reality afresh today as I read for us from Psalm 139, and I'll read verses 7 -10. It says,

“Where shall I go from your Spirit?

    Or where shall I flee from your presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9 If I take the wings of the morning

    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 even there your hand shall lead me,

    and your right hand shall hold me.”

I love how the psalmist portrays this for us in these real huge contrasting environments. And honestly, if I picture myself in these moments, ascending to heaven, going down into the depths, flying like with wings in the early morning sunrise, or dwelling in the deepest parts of the ocean, there's a lot of things that would capture my attention in those places that I could focus my eyes on. My senses would be overwhelmed by these incredible experiences, and yet God would still be there. I wonder if I were to take the wings of the morning, or if I were to be able to go into the deepest parts of the ocean, if I would even struggle more so to notice that God's presence was there because there were so many other things that I could give my attention to.

And I think about that even as I go through my day today, God is still here, even in the moments that I don't notice him. And the things that capture my attention can be different,  right? To-do lists and appointments and meetings and chores and errands and conversations with flesh and blood people. But no matter if the things that are filling our days are incredible moments or ordinary, even mundane ones, we can grow aware of God being there with us, because there is nowhere that we go that God is not already.

So I wanna leave you with a question to explore this conversation with him in a greater way today. And here it is:

God, where are you right now that I've been overlooking?

I wonder what he'll want to draw your attention to.

Have a good talk.

And if you've been encouraged by this content, please share it with a friend and help them grow in their conversational relationship with God too!

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