When God Feels Distant

After one of the hardest podcast recordings we’ve ever had… it’s finally here.

This episode almost didn’t happen. Delays, broken microphones, rushing around, storage issues, low battery, switching cameras mid-recording, honestly, everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong. But we kept pushing through because we truly believe this conversation needed to be shared.

You could say the enemy didn’t want this episode out… but God had other plans.

In Episode 46 of The Muddy Cross Podcast, we talk honestly about those seasons where God feels distant, when prayer feels harder, worship feels quiet, motivation disappears, and faith feels dry.

If you’ve ever felt spiritually exhausted, disconnected, overwhelmed, or wondered where God is in the silence, this conversation is for you.

You are not failing.
God has not left you.
Sometimes He speaks loudest in the quiet.

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” — Hebrews 13:5

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi and welcome back to the Muddy Cross Podcast. Thanks for joining us on today's episode. Just before we start, I just want to make a little comment about the sign. I apologize if we have a little technical difficulty, but we're not gonna let that stop us already, Judy.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

No, we're not.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

We're gonna crack on anyway. So you'll still be able to hear it, it's not just be as crystal clear as it normally is.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Yeah, just turn the volume up and listen in.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

So today's episode is when God feels distant.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

Oh I know.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Yeah, and I guess a lot of people think when God feels distant, they feel like God left them.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

And they feel like, you know, should they is that it? Should they stop? Should they stop following God? Should they stop, you know, feeling lost because he feels so far away. Um, you know, and the Bibles maybe start to feel a bit horror when you're reading it, you don't feel like you're getting anything from it. All these sorts of feelings that perhaps people feel like it's a dry season almost. Um is that the time that people should say, Oh, do you know what? I said he's moved away from me.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

I know, it's it's difficult, isn't it? And we've covered some of this in previous ones, but we wanted to do a topic on this because if we're honest, we've both been through this season. Yeah, we've both been through this whether it's been a day, a week, a month, it doesn't matter. We've both been through aspects of times where we've like prayer feels hard. And it's we've we may even have the time, but we don't want to sit down and pray because we just like oh, I don't know what to do, I don't know what to say, I don't even know what my thinking. You just your thoughts are all over the place, and sometimes you just you know, and I know we've said it on many occasions that's the time when you should be praying, but it's that oh you know, can I do that? Can I you get distracted, don't you? Like you pick up your phone, and then all of a sudden something pops up, or you see a message, and you're like, Oh, I actually have to deal with that, and it's because you're just not feeling into it. And I know we've said again before that feeling shouldn't deter, you know, your relationship, it's relationship first, but we're human, and sometimes that can overtake us. Um you know, we said Bible study can feel hard. You could be doing a work, a workshop, or a course or something, and you're just you're doing it, but you're doing it more for the motion of not actually feeling it.

SPEAKER_00 2:08

I think that you you you mentioned something there that just struck a chord to me was that um you know life can get busy, yeah, and we can forget to connect with God. Um and sometimes life can get so overwhelming that we just feel we need a cuddle, we need to feel we need to feel that somebody else has got us. And there's that expectation then that God will come in and do that. Now I'm not saying that he doesn't do that, but sometimes because we just feel it may be in a bit of a helpless state because everything's overwhelming, we're waiting for God to come in. But actually, as you said, that's the time where we should just be totally surrendered to God and say, God, I am so overwhelmed.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Yeah, do you know?

SPEAKER_00 2:50

So instead of kind of doing this, we should be kind of doing our arms out. And um I wonder, is that what happens to people sometimes because they don't hear God whenever they're really struggling, whenever they need that cuddle.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

Maybe actually we should start to think it's not just about sort of going inwards, we should actually just be reaching out and sort of see what command of this fears.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

We do sit there, don't we? And we're like, have we done something wrong? You know, why am I not finished? Why is that person over there? You know, like they seem like they're full of joy, and we're not, you know, we kind of it it's it's jumping through all of that. Um, I don't know, it's really difficult, isn't it? And honestly, sometimes the people who love God deeply still walk through these seasons. He feels quiet, not absent. Um, he's not uncaring because he's always there. It says in scripture, he never leaves us, he's always there. Um, it's just quieter, it's a quieter period, it's a drop, we call it a dry season, don't we? It's a dry season, and you're just not feeling it. And yeah, it's like you say, you just want someone at that point, I've got to come and give you that that blanket and surround you and protect you, and and go, it's okay, it's gonna be alright, but he's not there in the physical to be able to do that, and that's where we have to step into those feelings, um, and and kind of yeah, just really really work our way through it. So, if you're in a season like that, this is what we're gonna be talking about today. We're gonna be looking at some scripture, we're gonna be being honest and raw about ourselves. Like, I'll I'll say one thing really quickly. We were gonna film this podcast on Friday, we were meant to film it on Friday. Our podcasts normally go out on a Friday, don't they? At the same time every week. And Friday was incredibly busy, and we got busy doing instead of being, um, lots of things happening. Um, and then we thought, right, we'll plan it for Saturday morning, and then we came in and the microphone wasn't working, and we were like, it was just rushed, and we both sat down and we're like, let's be raw and honest about this. We're about to do a podcast on being honest and feeling it, and you know, having that desire to want to do it, and not rushing and just taking that time, but then this is not that, and if we do it now, it wouldn't be genuine, it'll be us putting something out there for the sake of ticking a timeline, and we both thought it was wrong.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Yeah, I mean, the whole weekend it's been manic, not at all in a bad way, um, but you're right, it just felt like we were trying to fit it in, yeah, and therefore we wouldn't be doing God any justice, yeah, we wouldn't be doing you guys any justice, not at all, so and you reckon you you have to recognize that, I think.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

And that's where it's about like taking that breath and going, okay, it's it's okay, it's okay to step back and go, right, when is this gonna work? When is this gonna work for everybody? And when are we gonna be able to have time? Because we like to pray before we come into our podcast, don't we? And obviously, on the Friday and the Saturday, we didn't have the time to be able to do that, so it would have been straight in and rushed, and so this is where it's being honest, you have to be honest with yourself. If if it's not right in that moment, step away, take a breath, and then come back, and that's what we've done. So that's what we're talking about today. Yeah, it's about when God feels distance, or when you're not just feeling it, how do we deal with that? So, how do we deal with that?

SPEAKER_00 6:09

Well, one you you mentioned honesty. One of the things that I I love about scripture is how honest it is about human points, about human emotions. You know, the Bible doesn't um doesn't pretend that people are always superficially strong or or emotionally certain. There are moments when when people you know were confused, they were tired, they were waiting. The Bible talks a lot about waiting uh and questioning as well, and you know, even feeling abandoned. Yeah, you know, it's it's it's all in here. It's all in here. So these are the things that we feel. I'm sure you guys listen and watching have felt that at times as well. It talks about these feelings uh and and these trying times here in the Bible, you know, and and that's where we need to draw strength from.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

And it's there for a reason, it's there because we're gonna go through it, yeah. And and this is not about a destination, this is about the journey, and it's about developing ourselves and working on ourselves, but raising the awareness and just seeing what he's bringing up all the time, and sometimes when you're in a season where he's feeling distant, and this is where I've had to be really honest with myself is it more about me or is it about him? And sometimes it's like, well, why have you left me? Why can I not hear you? Well, it's all really a bit me, me, me. Yeah, you know, I need you, I I you know, it goes back to that. It's I need you, I want, I you know, why am I not? Why am I actually all he asks us to do is be with him and worship him. So it we should, in some ways, and I know this a bit, you know, people are like, What? But you should put yourself aside and just go, I'm just going to worship you. I'm gonna whether that's put some music on, whether that's digging in. So I've got a piece of scripture here, and it's um it's it's really why going into the Bible is great, because like you're saying, about when you're facing hard times and challenges, the Bible will tell us, and there's so many stories in here that depict that for us to learn from. The only reason they're in here is because God's trying to help us to know how to be, you know, and so David, when he was going through all these challenges, he's like he just spills it out in his Psalms to God, like in his prayers to God. And so it's Psalm 13, and you can read the whole Psalms, but obviously, um, I'm just gonna do the first few um verses. It's how long, Lord, will you forget me? Forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? And I just think that that's so it's such a real prayer, isn't it? And it's showing us that we need to be raw and honest, we need to, we need to make sure that we're not we're not faking it and we're not trying to just say words for the sake of saying words. We are pouring out our heart. He he tells us to pour out our heart to him, and that's what he wants. He knows what we're gonna say anyway, but he wants us to share it with him because he wants us to want to be with him, just like that two-way relationship. Like, if you didn't want to be with me, what's the point? We've got to want to be with each other, and that goes back to him. And David isn't flattering himself, he isn't trying to sound polished or perfect or spiritual, even he's just being honest, he's being raw and honest, and I think that's incredible.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

You know, I think the honesty it really, really does matter because I think sometimes we think that um faith means hiding our struggles. Um you know, guys like for example, you know, don't cry, don't show emotions and stuff like that. But actually, in a in a relationship, it should be barn all, it should it should be like David did, speaking about his struggles, why, how, how long is this gonna happen? Um you know, and I think that we we really need to be honest about that, and the and the Bible in scripture talks about that, it talks about that, it talks about a lot about the relationship with God and about our honesty with God, and that's the only way our relationship with God can build. Do you know?

SPEAKER_02 10:12

And I think it's it's difficult, isn't it? Because if we're honest, we all carry guilt in those seasons. Yeah, we've all got those baggages that we're carrying around. Um, and I know you know, I could like you look at other people and you think, Oh, you know, if only if I was a stronger Christian, if I was like them, I I'd be doing this, if I was like that, I'd be doing this. You know, it's because I'm not good enough, I'm not doing enough, I'm not being enough. But you know, it's it's it's a difficult one, isn't it? Like we've had it where like, oh, you need to watch this sermon, or you need to do this course, and then everything will be alright, you know. It's you need to study more, press on in, do more, more, more. It's it's that more, more, more, isn't it? It's that constant pressure to do more, to give more. But feelings are not always measured by spiritual health. You know, God doesn't want us to do more, He just wants us to be, and sometimes life can be exhausting. Um sometimes your mind is overwhelmed. I that that's the only way I can put it. Like you say, don't you? There's lots of voices just constantly going on in your head, and sometimes you're emotionally drained, and it's important to know that none of us um none of that scares God away. You know, being that raw, being that honest, telling him that we're freaked out, telling him that we're overwhelmed, that's not going to scare him away. But it's really important that that he just he just hears it. Yeah, he hears that from us.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

I think I think one of the biggest lessons in faith is knowing the difference between God's presence and our awareness of his presence. I think you know as followers we can all say, yeah, I know God's present and have a relationship with God and I know that Jesus died for me and all these sorts of things, but are we really aware that God is always present? You know, we're all sinful, we all do things and say things that we shouldn't. And and in those times, do we think that we're just pulling the blanket and an invisible blanket over us to then commit that sin or to say that thing? We know that we shouldn't really do it, but then we take it off again, we think, oh well, at least God didn't say it because I had my invisible blanket on, and it's all right. You know, so there's a difference between knowing God is present and and being aware that he is always present, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

And he is, isn't he? He's there in the he's just there in all those moments, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

And and this goes into this what this episode is about in in the quiet times, in the the the times that we don't hear from him, he is still there.

SPEAKER_02 12:37

And I've got Hebrews 13 5, and just put it out, and it's keep uh keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, I will never leave you and I will never forsake you. And I think that just speaks into it, isn't it? We like the title of this one is When God feels dissident, God isn't dissonance from us, you know. And the the reality and the the brutalness of this is it's we're dissident from him, even if we don't want to be, yeah, even if we think we're not, he has said there he's never gonna leave us, he's never gonna forsake us, he's always with us, he's omnipresent, he can hear see and and be everywhere and do everything and hear everything. Yeah, so he's not gone from us, yeah. But we feel he's gone, yeah. We think he's gone, we say he's gone, yeah. We act like he's gone, but he's not, he's there, he's never gonna leave us. Um and you know, it's like, oh, we've only got like was it? I've got a fly in here, got a fly buzzing around. Excuse the extra ad addition to the uh podcast today. Um but he says that he's never gonna leave us, he's always gonna be there. But so why do we feel disconnected then?

SPEAKER_00 13:53

Yeah, I think that um I think emotions have a lot to play with us in some regards. I think that um, you know, emotions are important, but they're never they're never meant to sort of sustain our relationship um with God. Um they're beautiful and they matter, you know, you when you gather together and worship and and you know deepen prayer, or you go to a festival, you know, uh a Christian festival or something like that, and you can really just feel God's presence, the Holy Spirit just really moving, and you know, they're really emotional moments, really high impact, and and they do matter. I'm not uh dissing them, but it's also the ordinary days that we have, and we have plenty of those in our lives. Um, you know, if if we live and we shouldn't live from Sunday to Sunday, but there are six other days, yeah, um, which you would then class as ordinary days, and and those quiet days, and you know, uh maybe maybe days you just feel confused and lost. Those days really matter uh as well. Um, so it can't just be about emotion, um it's a mix of everything.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

No, it is, isn't it? And it's it's what walking by faith means. Yeah, you know, it's continuing to trust God, yeah um even when you don't feel it, even when emotionally you're not connecting and you're not feeling it. And say he's there, but we're not feeling it. Um but it's not about pretending or forcing or just continuing to walk with him um anyway, yeah. It's about being raw and honest, yeah, and it's about stepping back in those moments and going, okay, I need to address this, yeah. Um and I need to address this because I know you've not left me, I know you're not gone, but I am not I'm not feeling this. So what do I need to do?

SPEAKER_00 15:33

Well, again, kind of continue what I was saying, it it's we expect to hear from God in loud ways, you know, in in in in the moments where uh like big moments in in maybe in a breakthrough in our life something uh you've got a new job or just something massive has happened, and we expect that that's how God speaks to us all the time, these big moments, these big moments, but it's really not in the big moments. You know, scripture that you know the Bible tells us there's so many uh so many tellings of of of deeper works that happen in quieter times, and in times even that things have gone wrong, God speaking and working in so many different ways, and quite often we don't pause, we don't stop to hear those uh those little whispers that God is speaking to us, and it's it's you know again the loud things, the big impact things in life uh that happen as a result of God, they are important, of course, they are, and we have got to be so thankful for them. But we cannot expect it always to look like that. We have to look at the complete opposite, and again, those those very, very quiet little movements and the little whispers. That's God speaking as well.

SPEAKER_02 16:47

And talking of whispers, um, there's a really good story in the Bible in Kings, one Kings. Um, it's 19, so you could work your way through and go through 19, but it's all about Elijah and the struggles that he's going through. So he's emotionally exhausted, he's hit a wall, he's completely burnt out and overwhelmed, and he's waiting for God to speak. And it's that waiting, isn't it? He's having that patience and that time because you know that's what God's teaching him in that moment, and he's really going through it, he's really feeling it in the passages here. Um, and the wind comes and the earthquakes come and the fire comes and all these different elements come, but that's not where God speaks to him. God speaks to him in the quiet, in the whispering moments, and I think that's goes back to what you were saying that you know we all want these big things to happen around us. We you know, like we're all we're all excited when we're at these concerts and conventions and things, and then you come home and it's almost like it's it's it's it's almost like you get withdrawals because you're like oh, I'm not feeling it now. No, no, no, he's still there, it's still the same moments, it's still the same connection. It's just you're putting all your energy into the surroundings instead of internal, and so it's it's realizing just like with the other story of Elijah, there, that it's about listening, it's about stopping, breathing, pausing, and being, and when we do that, we will hear that connection.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

It it it is, and again, it's not to say that those intense and those big moments don't matter and and God can't use them, he can, but I think the world is such a light place that we forget that God speaks to us in sort of the the pace that keeps us going through the situation, or the strength that just helps us get through another day because we're going through a tough week or tough month, or whatever that may be, or maybe the conviction that we feel it's something that's just happened, um or it could just be the comfort that we just feel whenever we feel we need it, or it could be just a stillness, or or or just little small reminders. It's it's all of those moments that we can so easily overlook. That is God speaking to us as God giving us what we need just in that moment to endure, and we cannot overlook those moments.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Which I think is really important, isn't it? Because it's it's in those deeper moments of where he's doing the work in us, you know, and and as you're speaking there, the like there's loads of different visuals that kind of come to me at that point, and it's about you know, like when we we look at the trees and the roots, like you go out, don't you? You cut all the greenery, you cut everything down, and you cut the weeds down, and we kind of chose when we moved on the land and we got all the land and stuff that we weren't going to destroy it by putting down any killer weed killers or chemicals or anything like that, which can be a pain because it means a lot more working. It means a lot more work and a lot more, yeah, a lot more maintenance. Um but what happens generally is when we cut a weed down, the roots grow stronger, and they come back up even bigger and better. Um, and I just think that that's such a true telling in us because we go through moments where God literally is, you know, we're in a situation where we're being cut down by whatever, you know, whether it's some we're in a difficult situation, someone's being horrible, we're having a challenge in life, we're having to go through something, financial difficulties, health issues, whatever it is, they're all a bit like stripping down the weeds, you're taking out, you're taking out the stuff, you're working through different things, you know, branches are being cut away, and all those different aspects. But that's because in those moments where we feel like it's a bit hopeless and dry, it's not. What's happening is the underground is being strengthened, and he's strengthening the roots and he's building us up. And it may be that you know, we need to lose whatever that is, you know, jealousy, pride, ego, whatever those feelings are, um, hopelessness, you know, self-condemnation, you know, the weight of carrying everything, whatever that is, it all needs to be stripped away. Yeah, and you can only have that stripped away when you're going through something, and like you say, when the awareness then comes in order for the roots to grow so that we've got a stronger foundation. And I think all of that comes into that moment. And stories like Elijah and other stories in the Bible really help us to understand that. Like look at Joseph in the pit, you know, he could have just given up and gone, well, this is you know ridiculous. But but it wasn't, it was in those moments where God's gone, no, no, no, no, I'm refining, I'm growing, I'm I'm working in you, you're not alone. He said he's never gonna leave us, he's not gonna forsake us, he's always with us, and he's helping us, but uh it's just knowing, isn't it, that he's gonna come in those gentle whispers, he's not gonna be shouting loud.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Yeah, it it is, and and you know the key here is to it's that relationship, isn't it? It's it's it's remaining faithful to him and it's to staying connected. And I've got I've got a little scripture here in John, John 15 6. It says, Abide in me and I in you, as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in divine. Neither can you unless you abide in me. You know, that's speaking about relish relationship right there. And again, it doesn't. I know we want it all the time, but it doesn't matter if we don't hear from him. In other words, we feel distant from God. He is never distant from us. You know, as it says here, we're we're the branch, part of the vine. If we choose to disconnect, we're disconnecting from him, and we will not, we will never bear fruit because we're disconnected. We will not have any substance at all from him. But if we stay connected, just stay faithful, just stay rooted, just stay in constant relationship with him. He will, he always is with us, but he will strengthen us, he will grow us, and he will let us drive fruit. Yeah, so I think it's a really good verse to make that one.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

Um and it's not about constantly striving, is it? It's not about constantly trying to achieve, constantly trying to, you know, like we said, work through a programme, work through a course, work through something. It's about just being with him and and having that time and not trying to manufacture emotions or fake your way through anything, you know, because he knows he knows when your heart's in it or not, he knows when you're being real or not. It's not about spiritual perfection, it's about being raw and honest and just remaining near him at all times, just knowing he's there, surrendering, falling to your knees, opening your hands, and just surrendering to him, whether that's through worship, whether that's through a prayer, whether that whatever that is, it's about surrendering to him and taking the me aspect out of it and putting the him aspect back into it. Because a lot of the times, if we're brutally honest, with it it is like that vending machine of you know, oh god, I need this, I need that, I need this, I need that. And actually, at no point have we gone, thank you for what we do have, thank you for what you've given me, you know, like thank you for the husband that I've got and the loving connection, thank you for the children, or thank you for the fringe, thank you for the church that you found you know me for. Thank you for the you know, the friend online, whatever it is, however you found my animals, whatever it is that you found connection in, um, you know, to kind of help you walk through this life, whatever he's given you in your life. We've all got something, even if it's just the breath in our bodies that we've woken up to that morning, whatever that is, it's about having gratitude, you know, about a short prayer, a little bit of worship. It's about just having that time, isn't it? To just be with him and sit with him and just appreciate, you know, just appreciate what he gives us and what what we have.

SPEAKER_00 24:29

Yeah, I think, you know, I think that in this in this fast-paced world that we live in, I think that we I think some people quit too early. I think that that oh I don't hear anything, oh this this is not working. Oh I'm gonna move on from God. And and I think that's the way that we've created this world, it's so fast-paced, and I think that we need to remember to slow down. Um and that we gotta remember, we gotta feel reassured that just because we're not hearing anything from him doesn't mean that he's left us. You know, you talk about the the roots from the weeds, you know, it a tree that grows in the grind takes a long from a sapling or from a seed from an acorn um into a sapling into a tree. It takes a long time for those roots to grow and many, many, many seasons um to grow as well, and we have to allow time, yeah. And that relationship with God will just strengthen and strengthen and strengthen.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Yeah, and and also, you know, if we're honest, we've both been through that, you know, where where you're feeling a little bit lost, you're in a dry season, you're feeling you're like it's a bit hopeless, and you you're not sure. But at no time in there have we doubted God or we've not believed in him, so it's not a lack of belief, no, it's just feeling of disconnect, feeling of he's distant from me, why, you know, and having to go through that battle and that challenge. But again, he has said, we've said it in many scriptures today, you know, he will not forsake us, he will not leave us, he is always there, you know, he he's abiding in us at all times, so it kind of is a bit of a visual, it kind of feels like that dove on your shoulder. Um, it's been said in in I know it's been said in our uh church, we've heard it on many different um times that we've we've had sermons and things. Um, if you imagine that you have the dove on your shoulder, it's having that awareness that God is always there, yeah. He's abiding in us because he's there, and when you move, if you're moving now, you can move freely. But if you've got if you have a dove on your shoulder, you'd move a bit more tentatively, wouldn't you? You'd move a bit more cautiously, you'd slow down, you wouldn't be running everywhere and rushing everywhere, and life wouldn't be a hundred miles an hour. You'd be slowing down, you'd be more reflective, you'd be more like you do the the the macro lens of looking into situations because you have that constant awareness. So it's it's having that visual to think I've got I've got him there always, he's always with me, yeah, and and he's always gonna be with me. Yeah, he's not left me, I just feel distant from him. Yeah, so it's it's addressing that question really is I feel distant, not that he's left me.

SPEAKER_00 27:11

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that you know that there's also um with God is the word the word consistency comes in, is you know, he is always there, and we need to consistently reach out to him, and there's teachings and everything in every season, and even in a quiet season where we feel God's distant, as we've said, God's never distant from us, it's actually the other way around. Um but we need to be consistent in relationship with him, we need to be constantly, consistently seeking him and and looking for what he's trying to teach us within those uh within those moments of those dry times. Granted, it may not be during literally during them when you're going through them, but when you reflect back in them, there's always something that you can learn. Um and and and resort back resort back to scripture always, you know. Always be I think it's always be in surrender to God, I think is probably a good way to look at that.

SPEAKER_02 28:04

I love that word surrender. Yeah, yeah, I really do, because it is what we need to do in those moments. So if we are feeling that God is being distant, to me the answer is surrender. It's about going out, as we said, you know, dropping to your knees, arms open, putting on some worship songs, and just worshiping him and giving it all to him, and just going, I haven't got it all figured out, I haven't got it all together, I just need to give it all to you. And I think that's just such a beautiful way of of dealing with it. It's just being in prayer, but but not being in prayer for us, not thinking about me, taking me out of it, and going, I'm giving it to you, I and I just want to be connected to you, and I I just want to love you, and so you're thinking about him, you're taking yourself out of it.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

That's what I was gonna say, I think, by constantly being in that that air of surrender, uh, you you're always conscious of him, yeah. And in that instant, in that instance, he's even there in the silence, therefore. So, in whenever you feel God is distant, if you just go into surrender, you're thinking about him, you're present with him, and you're in gratitude, you can't not be when you're surrendering.

SPEAKER_02 29:19

So, absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

So, I think that is a key. That's a really good, yeah, a good word to think about, and um, yeah, to I would say yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:27

We we're gonna summarise this up into some different points, yeah. Um, and I think my first point is if you are doing something like I've done reading the Bible 365 days of the year and all the all of those sort of things, yeah. Um, if you are reading a book, if someone's turned around and gone, do you know what you need to do? You need to read that book. That is gonna be your answer. This book is gonna be what you need to get you back into the Bible, back you get you connected, get you back into feeding God, or you need to go on this course, or you need to go on that workshop, or you need to watch this podcast, or you need to do this, this, this, this, whatever that tick list is, and I've been through many of them. Um, it's about stopping. It literally is about you know what? I'm doing my Bible study 300, 600, and I'm on day you know 94, and I'm not feeling it. All I'm doing is it it's become an exercise, it's become a daily ritual that I'm doing almost like works, yeah, and I need to stop. And my recommendation would be to pause, to stop, and to step back and to go, why is this not working? Because if you're doing it and it's not working, and it's just doing it for the sake of doing it, or because you think that it's gonna bring you something, I feel that's that's wrong. I like from what we've experienced, and we can only go by our own experiences and our own. Um, and as we've said many times, this is more about advice for ourselves, isn't it? Um, but like I've been doing a I've been doing over the last few months a few different things, and I've had to go, no, this isn't working for me. I've had to step away. Um, and I may go back to it, and and you know, having that time, it's a bit like having you know, you've got your work life and you work, work, work, work, and all of a sudden you go, right, I'm having two weeks' holiday. Well, you can always pick the work back up when you come back, that's what we're meant to do, but you're allowed to stop and pause. Yeah, don't put the pressure on yourself. It's like that analogy, isn't it? Of the we said about the rucksack, and you're taking all these different things. Oh, I must read that book, I haven't really got time to read that book, but that person's telling me if I read this book, it's gonna help me. I'll read that book, or I need to do that workshop because that's gonna heal me, or I need to do this sermon, or I need to listen to that podcast because that's gonna that's gonna make me closer to God. That's gonna, and all of a sudden you've just got this massive weight on your shoulders, and God's gone, you were never meant to carry all that, you were never meant to have all that. I didn't ask you to take any of that on. Um, and so something we do with our boy is um our youngest boys um at night is a prayer where I kind of you know I talk through loads of different things, but it's visualising all the different weights of the world, all the different things that you may have picked up and carried over that day or that week, um, and he might express a few, and then we we do a visual of folding them all up into a little bowl, you know, getting them all together, scrunching them all together so that they're in a bowl, and then we take that bowl and we throw it, and as we throw it, we imagine the weight just being released, and we throw it up to God. And I say, Imagine that God's caught it, and he's holding on to that, and he's holding on to that because that is his to hold, it's not ours to hold. We're not meant to be holding on to that, and it's just so lovely to see that weight come off when that happens, and normally falls deeply into asleep, and it's so lovely to have those moments because it's a tool that helps to just release it off, and we can do that ourselves. So if something is feeling like you're doing it from a works perspective, and it's just become an exercise, a routine, a habit, whatever you want to say, a chore, even I would say pause and stop, allow yourself some time out, go walk in nature, go just yeah, just feel a release, and like we've said just now, is to just surrender, give it all to him. So that would be my top one.

SPEAKER_00 33:07

Yeah, I think I think mine would be uh is just stay connected, and the way I do that is to get away from worldly things. I connect best in in nature, so to go for a walk in the woods, be around woods, and listen to the birds because to me that they're God's creation, and that brings that means I'm closer to God because God created these things. So I then feel that I naturally go into a a gratitude uh form in a given thanks, thanks to the trees, thanks to the birds, and and just in awe of his creation. Um so I would say look at the small things in life, try uh natural small things in life because God created them. It helps us just to separate from the world and worldly things, and it just makes us more aware of the very small things that we should be grateful for, and and that also includes just waking up this morning with the breath. It also includes the fact that for me I have two legs and I can walk, I have two hands and I can use them, I have two eyes and I can see, I have ears and I can hear. You know, I'm very fortunate that I have those because lots of other people don't. Um, so I have so much to be grateful for. Um, so I would say, look at for me, it's the small things, get connected in nature and just start giving thanks. Um, because again, you can't help but be connected to God when you start to look and think about all those sort all those sorts of things as well. And don't worry, the world will be there when you get back.

SPEAKER_02 34:34

Yeah, no, I think so. And and and kind of combining all of that, I would say take the guilt off. We are saved by grace, not by anything that we did, and so therefore, if he's given us grace, we need to give ourselves grace. So, in that moment of you know, feeling the your pressure of I need to do this, I need to do that, more, more, more, more, and I keep needing to do. I think it's about being, not doing, yeah, and you can come back to doing when you're feeling it and you're you're more in that space with it. Um, but if it's not working for you, it's okay to try something different, yeah. And so, like for me, I was I was on a not a workshop, it was like following a course outline of studying the Bible and being in prayer, and it was to strengthen prayer and try and connect, and I just wasn't connecting with it at all, and it's just like this isn't working for me, and I just decided to go for a walk and I started praying while I was walking, and I've been on many different prayer walks, whether it's been with like a church group, whether it's been with friends group, what have you, and I've prayed and I felt genuine in my prayers I've walked, but I've come away feeling like that didn't really work for me, it's not really worked, it hasn't strengthened or given me that connection that I thought I was gonna get, and so I've gone no that so I've not really done any more of those, but recently I've just been going out and doing prayer walks on my own, just going out in the mornings. Normally, first thing in the morning is a real bonus because I feel like it's fresher and you can start the day, you're out getting the fresh air, you're getting some exercise in, but actually, it sets the whole day up for success because you're in his word from the minute you wake up, um, and it just feels really connected. So, I might listen to some worship music, I might put a little short podcast on, and then I'll go into talking to him. And normally the conversation then just flows. And so, I think take the pressure off, give yourself some grace, remove that rucksack and just go for a walk and just see what comes, or journal, you know, write it down. So, if you're not someone that wants to walk, then journal it down, yeah. But just find a different way, don't try and keep on. You can as I say, you can always come back to it, so it's not like it's forgotten, but try something just to just to break that so that you're feeling a newer connection, a different way, because remember, he's never left you, yeah, he's always with you. It's us that's feeling the distance, and we need to we need to ask why, we need to figure that out, and that normally is in prayer, it's normally in those quiet moments, like you're saying, those reflective moments in in nature, in peace, in in the presence of him.

SPEAKER_00 37:08

Yeah, I I've got a piece of scripture kind of pulls that together. It's in Romans, Romans 8, right at the end, Romans 8 uh 39. Nor height nor depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So basically, nothing, exclamation mark underlined bold, will separate us from God. Um, you know, I believe the Bible to be true, therefore, that statement has to be true, therefore, it's not that God's distant from us, it's that we feel distant from God, and that's something that we have to address. And I hope that this episode has helped you to or will help you to figure that out if you do feel distant from God.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

It's okay to give yourself grace. That's that's not a bad thing, it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 38:04

It is a good thing. And on that bombshell, I think that brings us to the end of this episode. Guys, we really do hope you've enjoyed this episode and we genuinely want to hear from you if you feel that this episode has uh moved you in some way, that has helped you in some way. You can reach out to us directly uh via the website email. Uh you can put your comments in the um in the links below. Uh, but we genuinely would love to hear from you, and we do respond as well. And we really do appreciate your support in terms of those that uh share out these episodes. And also, if you're not doing it already, please remember to hit the subscribe button, whatever platform you're watching or listening to this episode on. But until the next episode, thank you so much. And we will see you in the next episode.