If God feels distant

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It’s a common experience: someone who used to feel close to God no longer does. He seems not to have such an interest in their life. They don’t feel his warmth and comfort like they once did.

There used to be a cheesy Christian slogan that went, “If God feels distant … guess who moved?” Cheesy - but pretty helpful, too. Because it’s worth asking the question as to whether the problem might actually be me. It’s an uncomfortable question to ask. But it’s the point of Isaiah 59, as we saw yesterday.

Isaiah 58:2 - “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have
hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” The challenge for us is to look into
our own hearts and face up to our own sins, our wrongs. We’re to admit how we’ve
treated God so badly. And then we’re to confess that to him.

It’s only when we’ve done that that we’re drawn back to him in the right way. God
loves to be close to us - but will only be so when we come to him humbly. When we
do that, God will work in us and through us with great power.

Our challenge as a church is to be sure to always approach God on the right terms: we
come to him humbly, and he will draw close to us wonderfully. Some churches panic,
and try to do everything but stick to the gospel of grace. We must keep that gospel at
the forefront of everything we do.