10 bible verses for when you feel distant from God

Are you going through a season where God feels far? Read on for encouragement and scriptures to know what to do when you distant from God.

It surprises me how fast it seems to happen.

I’m feeling great about life and my walk with God. I’m sharing the powerful things I’m learning and how he’s working in my life. His love is clear to me in the big and small things. Taking steps of faith seems to be easier. Scriptures come to mind readily.

And then almost out of nowhere, things start growing stale and cold.

My Bible study becomes inconsistent; prayers, too. Fellowship with other Christians feels strained; yet at the same time, I hold back from making the effort. I feel lonely, sad, and questioning. Anxiety feels heavy and looming. As a result, I don’t feel the freedom, joy and peace that come from knowing grace. 

Overall, I feel distant from God. 

And Satan rushes to take advantage. It’s no coincidence that as I feel down, my busy-ness and the level of my distraction go up. 

Or honestly, sometimes I’m feeling far from God because of sin. I want to what makes me feel good in the moment, and ignore the Spirit’s whispers. I can feel resistant to God and doing the good I ought to do.

I needed this recently. I needed to go back through scriptures about being disconnected from God. When it comes down to it, I often start with worry and end up feeling relief as I remember his character and love.

If you’re going through a season like this, and panicking about it, let me encourage you:

Even if we feel distant from God, God is never far from us. 

Romans 8:38-39 says that nothing can separate us from God’s love. In Psalm 139:7-9, David says there is no place we can go to run away from God – he is always guiding us, always holding us. God may feel far – but he is always near.

He lets us make our own choices.

God grants us free will. He doesn’t force us to do his will or to be spiritually strong all the time, nor does he nag us until we turn back to him. Instead, he continues to seek us, generously gives wisdom when we seek it from him, and then goes running out to greet us in celebration every time we come back.

But he leaves that choice up to us. We have to ask, seek, knock (Matthew 7:7). We have to put aside our sin and become living sacrifices, letting our minds be transformed (Romans 1:1-2). God will have nothing to do with our sin (Isaiah 59:1-2) – so we have to choose to turn back to God. 

His promises stand.

God hears us when we pray (as long as we don’t cherish our sin, as Psalm 66:18 says). He does not condemn us (Romans 8:1). Jesus and the Holy Spirit intercede for us (Romans 8:27 and Hebrews 7:25). We are holy and blameless to him, and are adopted as his children (Ephesians 1:4-5).

If you find yourself feeling far from God, start at these promises, and go from there.

Remember who he is and how he sees you. Grace teaches us and helps us to grow. Guilt can prompt us, but it only does so much. It can also often keep us low or make us want to avoid everything. 

Hungry for more? These scriptures are meant to encourage and motivate you if you feel a gap between you and your Creator.

I know when I feel like that, it’s easier for me to let the space between us get wider rather than to make the effort to change it. It helps to remember God’s character towards us, and what’s waiting for me as I reach back out for him. It also helps to be motivated by a little healthy fear of God.

Here are 10 Bible verses for when you feel distant from God, with both kinds of encouragement.

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. – Luke 15:20b-24 NIV 

This is God’s attitude towards us. He longs to be close to us. He runs out to meet us. If you’re feeling guilty and wondering if God even wants you around – go back to this parable.

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. – Psalm 103:8-12 NIV

When your sin is the source of your guilt and it’s all you see, be reminded of this: God has distanced us from our sin. His compassion never fails (Lamentations 3:22); his love is abundant. If you’re afraid to turn back to God, keep this in mind.

…And when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I have commanded you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. – Deuteronomy 30:2-3 NIV

Return and obey! This is direction to the Israelites in Deuteronomy, but I believe it shows God’s heart to us. He does not want to be separated. He wants to gather us close.

From one man, he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. – Acts 17:24-27 NIV

God has a plan and purpose for us to seek him out. How are circumstances in your life giving you the opportunity to reach out to him? What do you need to surrender to him? Note the promise – “he is not far from any one of us.”

My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart. – Jeremiah 24:6-7 NIV

Simply more of God’s heart towards us. Jeremiah prophesied these words, and they apply to us as well. He wants to be our God; he wants to build us up; he wants to plant us and help us grow. 

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first… – Revelation 2:4-5a NIV

This is a challenge directed to a church in John’s Revelation. It’s an appropriate charge to us as well. With all of the above scriptures about God’s heart and promises towards us in mind – have you lost your first love? What do you need to do to be in love with God again like you were at first? What helps you feel close to him?

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? – Romans 2:4 NIV

This verse in Romans 2 specifically speaks to judging others on sins we ourselves commit. God has been incredibly patient and kind with us. Do we choose to keep going back to sin, when we know it doesn’t fulfill? 

When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by your right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but my God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. – Psalm 73:21-26 NIV

If we’re feeling distant, we can be “beastly” before God. Let’s dig deeper – what is the cause of our grief and bitterness? Is it a situation in our lives? Is it something we feel towards God? Know that God stands by you even when you feel these things. Remember that God is our strength! 

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. – Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV 

God does not tire of us. He restores us when we’re weary and weak if we hope in him. Keep hoping; keep trusting.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. – 2 Peter 3:9 NIV

This whole chapter from the beginning talks about how we can grow impatient and doubt God’s coming. We can choose to live however we want. This is a reminder that God is coming back – that our timing is not his, and that his patience with us gives us the opportunities to repent and draw near to him.

***

What helps you draw near to God when you feel distant from him? Are there any scriptures that you like in particular on this topic?

Scriptures are quoted from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Photo Credit:

1 – Siora Photography on Unsplash

2 – Gabrielle Dickson on Unsplash

3 – Alexandra Fuller on Unsplash