7/21/25 When the Connection Feels Distant

Takeaway: In dry and distant seasons, true faith clings to God; not because we feel his presence, but because we trust His Word.

Opening Prayer (Monday)

Heavenly Father, as a new week begins, I seek Your presence. Fill me with Your Spirit, renew my mind, and guide my steps. May I walk in faith and purpose today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Reflection

There are seasons in life when God seems silent, distant, or even absent. These times can feel like wandering in a dry and weary land where no rest is possible, or no water is in sight. Psalm 42 gives voice to this ache. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” The psalmist is longing for the refreshment of God’s presence, he is thirsting for something that feels withheld. This deep thirst reflects both a love for God and the pain of separation. He remembers past seasons of joy and intimacy. But now, instead of celebration, he weeps. “My tears have been my food day and night,” he says. and the voices around him only worsen the acute awareness of God’s absence: “Where is your God?”

It’s a brutally honest passage, and that honesty is sacred. Faith does not deny the dryness and aloneness life can feel. However, faith walks through it. Trusting God in dry seasons doesn’t mean pretending everything is fine. It means clinging to Him when He feels far away, remembering who He is even when we can’t feel Hos presence. The psalmist speaks directly to his soul: “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him” (v. 5). The word “yet” is the sign of hope in this psalm. It is the defiant trust that the dryness won’t last forever, and that the silence does not mean abandonment. It’s the belief that God’s faithfulness is not measured by our emotions but by His unchanging character and promise.

When the relationship with God feels distant, we are invited into a deeper faith. A faith not based on feelings but on truth. Dry seasons teach us to thirst for God not just for His blessings, but for Him alone. In those trails, worship becomes a choice, prayer becomes perseverance, and hope becomes a discipline. Even though it may feel like we’re wandering through a spiritual wilderness, we are not alone. The God we thirst for is the same God who walks with us. He sees, He knows, and in time, He will restore the streams. So we say with the psalmist: “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him.”

Questions

When have you felt spiritually dry or distant from God?

How might your longing in dry seasons deepen your relationship with God?

Application

Practice intentional worship even when you don’t feel close to God. Read Psalm 42 daily, and speak truth to your soul. Choose one simple act each day that expresses hope and trust in God’s faithfulness, such as journaling a prayer, thanking Him aloud, or singing a worship song.

Closing Prayer

Lord, when You feel distant and my soul is weary, may I be reminded that You are still near. Teach me to trust You not by what I feel, but by what I know of You. Help me to hope in You, to worship through the dryness, and to believe that You will restore the streams of abundance. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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