We feel spiritually stuck. Although we read the Bible, we envy the fact that God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve, personally confronted Moses in the fiery bush, spoke from the whirlwind to Job, and called to Samuel in the dark. Over and over and over again we see accounts where God seemed so tangible. Within reach. Let’s be honest, it doesn’t quite seem fair.
What to Do When You Feel Spiritually Stuck
Maybe you find yourself in an invisible stuck place today, unable to make space for God to penetrate the deep recesses of your soul. You want to make God a priority in your life, yet struggle to overcome. There are disappointments, bitterness, worries, sadness, and struggles that seem to take preeminence. Barging right on in.
God seems so far away.
God spoke through dreams, and writing on the wall, and from a thunderous cloud…and to Saul on the road to Damascus with a blinding light. And I believe that God is still capable of such wonders today. However, in our hope for the supernatural, unexpected, extraordinary miracle…we forget that the road is often hard. We may have the misconception that being a Christian translates to a life of ease. And due to this false notion, we wait to go to God until we have our life cleaned up. Ducks in a row. All prettied up and tied with a bow.
Analyze Your Heart
We must realize that God is after more than neat, pretty packages. He is okay with messy lives too. We must admit that we need God just as we are. Times of spiritual dryness is normal, not an anomaly. There is no need for you to pretend that you are spiritually stuck. Go ahead and take your complaint to God.
As believers, we all have such experiences. The sermon seems boring and your thoughts are drifting afar. The worship music seems endless and you can’t wait to sit down. You read the Bible and it seems like an empty chore. Small groups. Christian articles. Times of prayer. Nothing seems to break through the cadence of your routine life.
You may feel the uncomfortable distance widening between who you know you are and the Christian you pretend to be. The guilt and tension are rising, but you are not sure where to begin.
Start With Some Honesty
Tell God exactly how you feel. Confess your wandering soul. Sometimes as we dig within, we find the root of our sin. I wish I could give you a neat, tidy answer…but in this instance, there is not a “one-size-fits-all.” Somewhere within us lies some misplaced expectations, appalling apathy, buried hurts, or raw disappointment.
But here is the good news…we have a God who is unsurprised by our indifference and has unrelentingly set His affection upon us before the beginning of time! He has shown His commitment to you by sending Jesus! He is devoted to you for the long-haul.
We can find freedom in being real with God. Go ahead and confess how you feel to Him. Talk it out. By unraveling our emotions, we begin to connect the dots between the truth of who God is versus how we feel. It is easy to get lost in this dissonance, but I promise you…it is worth fighting through! Further, it takes getting out of your head to move past the state of being spiritually stuck.
Remind Yourself of God’s Faithfulness
No one knows you better than God Himself. What you are experiencing today does not come as a surprise to God. God knows your most desperate situation, your deepest longings, your silent cries, your biggest disappointments, your shortcomings, your loneliness moments, your painful rejections, and your greatest doubts. He knows it all. It doesn’t take Him off guard. And there is not a single thought or emotion that has not been covered by the blood of Christ.
It is God who purposed to put breath in your lungs this very day (Job 33:4). God has set aside good works for you to do (Eph. 2:10). His grace is sufficient for you (2 Cor. 12:9).
Receive God’s Love
You were bought for a price because God loves you. You were worth dying for. He hasn’t stopped loving you. It is a continuous, unending, every single day kind of love. On days when we don’t deserve it. On days when we give God the cold shoulder. Let’s not forget that God loves us even then.
God can pull you through this season of being spiritually stuck. You are not the only one who has been in a stuck place before. Meditate on the words of David. Ask God to do it for you!
I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD.