Why Do I Feel So Far From God?

If you typed this question into a search bar late at night, I want you to know two things before anything else. First, you’re not the only one asking it. Second, the fact that you’re asking means you still care. People who have truly walked away from God don’t usually lie awake wondering why He feels far.

I’ve asked it too, in the hardest season of my faith. So let’s talk about it honestly.

Five honest reasons God can feel far

1. You’re exhausted, not faithless. When Elijah collapsed under a broom tree and asked God to take his life, God didn’t lecture him. He sent an angel with bread and water and let him sleep (1 Kings 19). Sometimes spiritual numbness is a tired body and an overloaded heart. Rest isn’t a detour from God. Sometimes it’s the road back.

2. You’re carrying grief or disappointment you haven’t named. A loss. A diagnosis. A marriage that didn’t turn out the way you hoped. A prayer that wasn’t answered the way you begged. When we don’t know where to put the hurt, we often pull back from God without realizing it. The Psalms give us permission to say it out loud: “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1). That isn’t a lack of faith. That is faith: talking to God about the silence.

3. You’ve been performing faith instead of living it. I wrote about this in When God Feels Like a Stranger. You can say all the right things and still feel like you’re watching your own life from behind glass. The answer isn’t trying harder. It’s being more honest.

4. Something has been quietly crowding Him out. Sometimes that’s sin, and it’s worth asking God to show you (Psalm 139:23–24). But often it’s just noise: the phone, the schedule, the never-ending to-do list. Distance rarely happens in one big step. It happens in a hundred small ones. The good news? The way back is small steps too.

5. Your feelings aren’t the whole story. Feelings are real and they matter, but they aren’t a reliable measure of how near God is. He promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). The distance you feel is real. It just isn’t proof that He has moved.

What actually helps

You don’t need a dramatic spiritual comeback. You need a next step. Here are a few small ones:

Pray one honest sentence. “God, I don’t feel You right now, and I’m telling You anyway.” That counts. It might be the most honest prayer you’ve prayed in a while.

Read a little, slowly. Not a chapter marathon. A few verses a day, read slowly enough to notice one word or phrase.

Say it to someone. Distance grows in isolation. Tell one friend, “I’ve been feeling far from God.” You’ll probably hear, “Me too.”

Give it a season, not a day. Feelings change slowly. Commit to a few weeks of showing up instead of judging yourself by how you feel this morning.

Let’s walk through the middle together

That’s exactly why I wrote To Him Who Is Able, a free 12-week devotional for women who still believe but feel far. Each day is simple: prayer and thanksgiving, a short Scripture reading, a worship song and a journal prompt. We walk through Colossians, 1 Peter and 2 Peter, starting with Week 1: The Supremacy of Christ, a reminder of who He is when we’re not sure where we are.

We start Day 1 together on Monday, November 2. You don’t have to have it figured out. You just have to show up.

— Jen