{"id":48482,"date":"2021-09-02T18:03:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T22:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=48482"},"modified":"2021-09-14T10:17:04","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T14:17:04","slug":"when-god-seems-distant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/","title":{"rendered":"When God Seems Distant: The 4 Ways to Reconnect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What do you do when God seems distant? How can you feel his presence again?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you experience difficult circumstances, you may feel that God has abandoned or forgotten you in some way. Bringing him pleasure will likely be the last thing on your mind. However, it\u2019s vital to continue your worship in the hard moments when God seems distant\u2014because this is when God is testing your character most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more to learn four things you can do when God seems distant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to Do When God Seems Distant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Worship becomes easier in confusing or frightening times if you can find ways to stay connected to God, even if his presence isn\u2019t evident to you. There are four ways to remind yourself of God\u2019s presence and his goodness.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1) When God seems distant<\/strong>, e<strong>xpress your feelings. <\/strong>Don\u2019t be afraid to tell God exactly how you feel about the test he\u2019s given you\u2014all negativity and anger included. Rather than seeing this as an insult, God will see this as an affirmation of your faith, in three ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Addressing God proves that you believe in him.<\/li><li>Speaking to God affirms that you believe he\u2019ll listen to what you have to say.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Being honest with God demonstrates that you have faith that he\u2019ll let you say what you want and love you no matter what.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2) When God seems distant<\/strong>,<strong> remember that he is unchanging. <\/strong>Continually remind yourself of truths about God\u2014he\u2019s good, he loves you, and he knows what\u2019s best for you. Recall that God <em>wants<\/em> you to pass your tests and won\u2019t give you a challenge he doesn\u2019t think you can overcome. He gave you this particular test because he <em>knows<\/em> you\u2019ll succeed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3) When God seems distant, have faith in his promises. <\/strong>God promises that he\u2019ll never leave you\u2014no matter how you <em>feel<\/em>, the reality is that God isn\u2019t breaking his promise to you. Holding on to your knowledge and faith in this promise is a profound <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/acts-of-worship\/\">act of worship<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>4) When God seems distant<\/strong>,<strong> reflect on his sacrifices for you. <\/strong>No matter what grueling tests God puts in your way, he deserves your praise and gratitude because of the sacrifices he\u2019s had to make for <em>you<\/em>. He had to let his only son die so that humans like you would be saved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What do you do when God seems distant? How can you feel his presence again? When you experience difficult circumstances, you may feel that God has abandoned or forgotten you in some way. Bringing him pleasure will likely be the last thing on your mind. However, it\u2019s vital to continue your worship in the hard moments when God seems distant\u2014because this is when God is testing your character most. Read more to learn four things you can do when God seems distant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":48494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6],"tags":[488],"class_list":["post-48482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-spiritual","tag-the-purpose-driven-life","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When God Seems Distant: The 4 Ways to Reconnect - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What do you do when God seems distant? Here are four ways to remind yourself of God\u2019s presence and goodness, even when you feel disconnected.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When God Seems Distant: The 4 Ways to Reconnect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What do you do when God seems distant? Here are four ways to remind yourself of God\u2019s presence and goodness, even when you feel disconnected.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-02T22:03:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-14T14:17:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/when-god-seems-distant.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"368\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\"},\"headline\":\"When God Seems Distant: The 4 Ways to Reconnect\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-02T22:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-14T14:17:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/\"},\"wordCount\":412,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/when-god-seems-distant.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Purpose Driven Life\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Lifestyle\",\"Spiritual\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/\",\"name\":\"When God Seems Distant: The 4 Ways to Reconnect - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/when-god-seems-distant.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-02T22:03:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-14T14:17:04+00:00\",\"description\":\"What do you do when God seems distant? Here are four ways to remind yourself of God\u2019s presence and goodness, even when you feel disconnected.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/when-god-seems-distant.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/when-god-seems-distant.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":368},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When God Seems Distant: The 4 Ways to Reconnect\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.\",\"sameAs\":[\"rina@shortform.com\"],\"award\":[\"Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)\",\"Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)\",\"Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)\",\"Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"History\",\"Theology\",\"Government\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Senior SEO Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When God Seems Distant: The 4 Ways to Reconnect - Shortform Books","description":"What do you do when God seems distant? Here are four ways to remind yourself of God\u2019s presence and goodness, even when you feel disconnected.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When God Seems Distant: The 4 Ways to Reconnect","og_description":"What do you do when God seems distant? Here are four ways to remind yourself of God\u2019s presence and goodness, even when you feel disconnected.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2021-09-02T22:03:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-14T14:17:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":368,"url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/when-god-seems-distant.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Whitworth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Whitworth","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13"},"headline":"When God Seems Distant: The 4 Ways to Reconnect","datePublished":"2021-09-02T22:03:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-14T14:17:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/"},"wordCount":412,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/when-god-seems-distant.jpg","keywords":["The Purpose Driven Life"],"articleSection":["Lifestyle","Spiritual"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/","name":"When God Seems Distant: The 4 Ways to Reconnect - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/when-god-seems-distant.jpg","datePublished":"2021-09-02T22:03:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-14T14:17:04+00:00","description":"What do you do when God seems distant? Here are four ways to remind yourself of God\u2019s presence and goodness, even when you feel disconnected.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/when-god-seems-distant.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/when-god-seems-distant.jpg","width":750,"height":368},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/when-god-seems-distant\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When God Seems Distant: The 4 Ways to Reconnect"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13","name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Whitworth"},"description":"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.","sameAs":["rina@shortform.com"],"award":["Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)","Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)","Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)","Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)"],"knowsAbout":["History","Theology","Government"],"jobTitle":"Senior SEO Writer","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/when-god-seems-distant.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48482"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49008,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48482\/revisions\/49008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}