If you are a person of religious faith, you’ve probably felt—at one time or another—the sense of God’s nearness. That makes sense. Especially for Christians, because the very shape of our faith is that Jesus is the ultimate example of God disclosing himself to creation. And of course there are other means by which God discloses himself to creation as well: creation’s very existence, moments of awe, general revelation, beauty, and so on.
Yet it is also not uncommon for believers to experience times when God seems remote—distant, hidden—perhaps the feeling is that God is out of reach.
Have you ever felt that way? It can be a troubling experience, especially for those who are attached to the feelings that come from a sense of God’s closeness.
So what do you do when you’re in such a spiritual season?
1.) Do not despair.
The first thing to note is that this is a common experience—even for the most ardent and faithful. See Mother Teresa. Teresa of Ávila. John of the Cross. And other faithful ones and mystics. They often speak of “dark nights of the soul,” or moments of spiritual dryness. You are in good company.
2.) Realize that God is beyond our reach.
God is ineffable—beyond full comprehension, beyond the confines of human reason. God is beyond creation, and in no way limited by creation. It makes sense, then, that God would be beyond our tools of exploration. God is always a mystery.
So it makes sense that God might seem out of reach at times.
3.) Appreciate the moments of God’s felt nearness.
It’s incredible to recognize that a God who is “wholly-other” than the world can nevertheless make himself known. God shows up. That is a profound reality.
4.) Let this experience become an invitation.
This whole experience—God’s nearness and God’s seeming distance—is an invitation. It’s as if God, revealed in creation, invites human minds into a game of hide-and-seek.
When we take away the “play” language and replace it with liturgical and spiritual language, we might say that this is an invitation to seek after God.
Feeling God as distant should not bring you to despair. It should invite you to seek God further. It puts you on the hunt. It gives your life purpose, and it helps you live more intentionally. It won’t let you take your mind, the world, creation itself, or other people for granted—because God might be hiding just around the next corner. Don’t miss the glimpse.
Ultimately, the real issue is attachment.
While it is true that spirituality is the quest for connection with the divine, we are often attached—to the feelings we get when we sense God’s nearness. Those feelings can become an idol. God, in his mercy, disabuses us of that idol and calls us to detachment: we need to live faithfully without needing to feel certain emotions before we can believe we are “okay,” or before we can think we’re spiritually good.
Remember: feelings matter, but they are not everything.
So if you find yourself missing God—if God feels hidden—try thinking this instead of despairing or feeling guilty:
“God is inviting me to a game of hide-and-seek.”
And then be faithful to play.
Get on the hunt.
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