Am I a Bad Christian if I Feel Far from God?
I’m not a physical touch person. In fact, physical touch is the lowest ranked of the love languages for me. It’s not like I don’t like touch, I just don’t really need much of it to feel loved and comforted. However, I do appreciate nearness. I might not always need a hug when I’m having a bad day, but I love having someone around. Their presence with me is what gives me comfort and helps me feel less alone. So when God’s presence doesn’t feel near to me, I’m often left discouraged and wanting. I crave the intimacy I had with God that resulted from His presence with me.
And even though I’ve been a believer for decades, there is still that thought in the back of my mind when God seems distant: Am I a bad Christian? Is it my fault that I don’t feel God’s presence with me?
I’m sure you have asked yourself those same questions before. Maybe you’re asking yourself those questions right now. The last thing I would want is for those questions to convince you that you are viewed less favorably in God’s sight. In fact, that is exactly what the enemy wants. He wants your struggle to feel God’s presence to lead you away from the Lord. But even though God may feel distant right now, that isn’t a reason to label yourself as a bad Christian. Nor is it a reason to stop pursuing the Lord.
What Scripture Says About God Feeling Distant
What helps me when God feels far is reminding myself of David’s own struggles. David penned the majority of the Psalms, and many of these psalms involve him praising the Lord and declaring his trust in Him. But even the person who was deemed “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14)—the same person who declared to God, “Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalms 139:7), is the same person who cried these words:
“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning? My God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, by night, yet I have no rest.”
Psalm 22:1–2
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never read these words and thought, David is such a terrible person for saying these words. I’ve never thought, David must have been seriously failing in his relationship with God if he didn’t feel God near to him. Instead, I’ve been incredibly comforted by these words. They remind me that even the most devoted believers have moments when God seems distant. David’s words capture the Christian experience—the reality that for all believers, there are indeed times when God’s presence feels out of reach.
What encourages me even more is that Jesus Himself said these words on the cross. As Jesus took on the sins of the whole world, He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46). In that particular moment, Jesus felt forsaken by God. Though His relationship with God did not change, His taking on God’s wrath for our sake came with the punishment each one of us would experience without Christ—separation from God.
God’s Permanent Presence
Jesus allowed Himself to be temporarily separated from God so that we would be brought into an eternal relationship with God. If we have placed our faith in Jesus, we have been forgiven for our sin, and the wrath that we deserve for our sin has been replaced with God’s peace. Jesus’s salvation secures our relationship with God, which means that there is nothing that can separate us from Him (Romans 8:38–39). So take heart, friend, that even if it feels like God is far, He has not left you. In every moment when God’s presence seems beyond our reach, God whispers “I will never leave you or abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5).
If there is nothing that can separate us from God, and if God promises to never forsake us, then God’s presence with us has not changed when He feels far. Not only this, but our experience of God’s seeming distance isn’t punishment for our struggles or our unfaithfulness to God. Because of the grace we have received from Christ, God never holds us at arm’s length. He never withholds Himself from us until we “get ourselves together.” As believers, our standing with God does not change—even when we feel far from Him.
So if you feel like God is far today, take comfort in the truth that God remains loving and gracious toward you. Take comfort in the truth that God remains close to you regardless of your feelings. Allow the gospel and your identity as a forgiven and beloved child of God to move you to keep pursuing the Lord. You might just find that as you cling to the truth of Scripture and seek the Lord, you will feel His presence that was with you all along.
