WHAT SHOULD I DO WHEN I FEEL DISTANT FROM GOD? (JUDG.6:16)
It's safe to say that not a believer alive today has avoided those "desert" times when he or she just didn't feel the prescence of god. Its a problem that all of us have to confront at some point along the way.
Many factors can make us feel distant from our heavenly father. Sometimes, its a matter of our accuser, the devil, whispering in our ears and speaking his deception. Another times, these "distant" times turn out to be seasons when god is trying to bring us closer to himself. But sometimes its a matter of our need to do some inner "housecleaning".
Nothing can make us feel more distant from god than our own unconfessed sin. While our stumbles dont make god love us one bit less, they do drive a wedge betwee even the most loving and devoted husband and wife.
Throughout the book of judges, we read how isreal had sinned and drifted in its devotion to god. Many when our hearts become entangled with sin and things of the world, God allows us to expeirence a feeling of distance between him and us. This is exactly what is really felt in those dark days.
Isreal should have recognized the lords coolness and lack of nearness. Instead, the people of god continued to worship Baal without regard for gods intimate love for them. Therefore, god allowed them to experience a time of testing. In judge 6 we read that "Isreal was greatly impoverished because of midianietes, and the children of Isreal cried out to the lord" (v.6.). Here we see at work an important principle regarding repentance and reagaining favor with the lord.
When we realize our error and cry out to god, He never comes, however, as if being summoned by a superior. He comes when our hearts have been broken and when we at last realize our need for him. When we humbly confess our sin and our dependence on him, He hears our prayers and begins deliverence from sin (judg. 6:11)
If you are experincing a time of coolnes in your devotion to god, dont hesistate to turn to him in prayer. Confess any known sin, and ask him to restore the sweetness of his fellowship to his heart.