Jesus Restores All

For the last few years, I have been blessed to feel the presence of God in my life. It is spiritual high if you will, because for me, I felt like I was in this constant joy and peace. Nothing could really hinder this, and I was able to withstand most of the problems that would come my way because I would feel God within my heart and feel God is with me. I felt truly connected to God though the Holy Spirit.

I chased this feeling too because there have been times in my life where that feeling would leave, and I would seek the Lord in order to feel that burning love, that burning truth within my heart. I would constantly pray, read the bible, listen to Christian sermons, and do what I can to keep my focus on to the Lord and on to Jesus Christ. To have the light shine through your heart and with the Holy Spirit is an amazing feeling to experience.

Spiritual Dryness

But over the course of the last few weeks, I feel like God has left me. That burning light and truth has escaped my heart and I feel separated from God. I don’t feel that awesome joy and peace in my heart anymore. Like it all went away in an instant. When I read the bible, it does not hit me like it used to. Prayers I feel like I just can’t connect my prayers with my heart. My worry, anxiety, and stress are all starting to set in my head. I am over thinking once again. I am prone to being angry again and opening myself to sin. Like the last few years when I felt God with me, has all of a sudden dried up, or as others would describe it as spiritual dryness.

In this time, I have experienced the temptation of Satan creep back into my life by having these weird vivid dreams. I am becoming quicker to anger and annoy. I have let the world affect me and get me busy again where I can’t think about God. Just these little schemes I know the devil is using to attack me but for whatever reason, I am letting it happen and not doing anything to stop it because I used to rely on feeling God and knowing I was in His presence which gave me the courage to resist temptation, sin, and evil.

Encouragement from God

Even though I may not feel God in my heart, and for whatever reasons that is, only God knows why, I am encouraged by the Word of God that He will not leave me, nor leave you.

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

Deuteronomy 31:8

The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us.

1 Kings 8:57

There are more bible verses that encourages you that God is always with you, and God will never leave you. What is important to note is that even though I am being attacked by Satan, I never lost faith in the Lord. And even though I may not feel God, from these verses, I know that God is there. I know that God loves me, as He loves you. I know that God will never just leave my side, and God will never leave your side too.

When David faced against Goliath, he said:

You are coming to fight against me with a sword, a spear and a javelin. But I’m coming against you in the name of the Lord who rules over all. He is the God of the armies of Israel. He’s the One you have dared to fight against…The battle belongs to the Lord. He will hand all of you over to us.

1 Samual 17:45

David didn’t say “I feel God with me”, but that he knew God was with him. David spoke to this massive giant knowing full well that God is for him, and through God – victory was already his.

What I am realizing though this spiritual dryness is that I don’t need to necessarily feel God in my heart to connect with God, but to know and to believe that God is with me at all times for anything in my life, and I can trust this knowledge because I know God is with me at all times.

The Deceiving Heart

In Jeremiah 17:9-10 he said,

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserver.”

The human heart always wants things, and that leads humans into sin. The desire or lust to need something to fill whatever your heart desires; we all have experienced this before. So naturally the heart is deceiving and wicked as the human heart can manipulate the mind into wanting things or needing things.

The same can be said about spiritual dryness. When your heart feels absence of God, then it tells your mind that God is gone, and all of those sins, wickedness, anxiety, worry, and stress starts to take over you both physically and spiritually. For me it was a panic and total disconnect with God. Your emotions become more volatile, you start to drift from your faith, and then slowly the devil starts to creep back into your life. The world consumes you again. Peace, joy, and love have all of a sudden escaped me because I have relied on that feeling for too long.

How can you overcome spiritual dryness?

I am discovering that in my journey as I am experiencing this is to always be aware of God. What I mean by this is knowing God is there. Knowing that God is still with you and has your best interest at His heart. Knowing that your faith in God will seek you through this.

A good example is when Moses, and the people of Israel were faced with impossible situation pinned against the sea, with the Egyptian army coming. Then God parts the sea, and if put yourself in that moment, you know that when Moses and the people of Israel say this, they probably had a human feeling that they should not walk through sea, but they knew and were aware that God is with them, so they keep their faith, trusted God, and walked through the sea.

So, you can overcome spiritual dryness by keeping your focus on God at all times. You may not feel that awesome powerful light in your heart but know and understand that God is with you.

Be aware of God at all times in your life. Think of God as much as you can.

Here are some tips you can use to overcome spiritual dryness:

1. Keep your focus on God. Too often we get busy with work, family, friends, or something to distract us. This is the world wanting to pull you back into it. But take a moment in your busy times, think of God, thank Him, give him praise, say a quick prayer, something to break that busy time so that you can shift your focus on God more often.
2. Pray more. When you feel disconnect with God, two things will happen with respects to prayer: pray more or pray less. I say pray more. How else will you stay connected to God? God has not given up on you, so don’t give up on God just because you don’t feel God. Know and have faith that God is with and is listening to your prayers. Continue to pray, and never stop praying.
3. Open your bible. Even though right now I am not connecting with the Word of God, that doesn’t mean I won’t stop reading the Word of God. So, I encourage you to keep going, keep reading the bible, find something that connects you with God. Let the Word of God encourage you to hold on to your faith, to believe that God is always with you.
4. Turn off the distractions. Remember the world wants to pull you back in. Turn off the world as much as you can. Give yourself time away from social media, don’t watch as much TV or don’t watch TV at all, keep away from things that are negative. Instead spend this time, focus on God. Focus on Jesus Christ. Focus on your favorite Scripture. Spend more time with God than with the world.
5. Go to church. Give back to the community. Serve others. If any of these activities helps you seek the Lord and helps you be more aware of God, then I encourage you go do it.

Just because you experience spiritual dryness, does not mean God have completed left you.

Remember that God is walking with you, God is walking ahead of you, God is always watching your back, and most of all God is for you. He will never leave or forsake you. And when you do mess up and do sin that Jesus Christ is there to forgive you. Be aware of the love and peace the Lord gives you. Be aware of mercy and grace God blesses you with. It probably happens more times than we think, so don’t lose your faith, don’t lose your trust in the Lord. God is with then, God is with you now, and God is with you always.

Continue to pray.

Continue to praise God.

Never lose faith in God. Never lose hope in the Lord. Never ever stop believing in Jesus Christ.

Thank you and God bless.