When God Feels Far Away
"What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well." – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
Seasons in a Spiritual Desert
Picture a desert. At first glance, it's exactly what you'd expect—dry, sun-scorched, relentlessly hot. If you pause and look closer, you'll find something else: hidden colors in the rocks, plants, and wildlife that have learned to thrive in the harshness. It’s a quiet beauty that reveals itself only to those who pay attention. It’s also proving how God equips what He creates to come through the toughest circumstances.
There have been seasons in my life when my relationship with God felt like that desert at first glance: dry, disorienting, and, by human standards, desolate. Jeremiah, the author of Lamentations, knew this terrain.
“Even when I cry out and plead for help, he blocks out my prayer.
He has walled in my ways with blocks of stone; he has made my paths crooked.”
—Lamentations 3:8-9 (CSB)
Like someone passing through without stopping to look, I never searched for what God might be cultivating beneath the surface. I let the weight of my struggles distract me. I didn't turn to God for help. My first question was always, "What am I going to do about this?"
Self-Reliance Runs Dry
When I need help, I tend to look for human solutions first, without taking it to God at all. Over the years, I've unknowingly allowed myself to become vulnerable to the wrong things. I let my emotional triggers get the best of me, losing my sense of purpose and direction that God had in mind. This is comparable to being pushed into a corner or, in its simplest way, waiting until the last minute.
Reasons revolved around things I wanted to avoid emotionally. As my mind grew louder and got the better of me, it felt like the quiet moments I used to spend with God disappeared. Days turned into weeks, then months. I ran the endless questions: "Had I neglected Him for too long? Did God finally give up on me? What did I do wrong?"
I started to feel its effects—a gnawing distance between God and me. I felt convinced He wasn't there anymore. My pain made things feel as if I inadvertently created a place for a monster to reside instead.
When God Restores and Transforms
Through constant scriptural reading and prayer, God opened my eyes in that spiritual desert: he never left. Not once. Even when I couldn't sense His presence and prayers felt futile—He was still with me. When I expected disappointment, frustration, and condemnation, He was waiting with open arms, patience, and a loving invitation to return.
The author, Jeremiah, understood this waiting: “Let him sit alone and be silent, for God has disciplined him.” (Lamentations 3:28) Yet this silence has a purpose. Through Christ Jesus we’re given a promise:
“The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. To him be dominion forever. Amen”. – 1 Peter 5:10-11 (CSB)
His discipline of me was part of my ongoing transformation, strengthening and supporting me. It let me know I wasn’t alone. Now, when I go through a spiritual desert—my “spiritual pruning” or wall—I’m confident that I will come out of it strengthened, having learned something I missed. I am also reassured that He loves me as I am.
A Word of Comfort
My friend, if you are going through a spiritual desert right now, know that God has neither abandoned you nor has He left you to fend for yourself. Pause with Him in the quiet to look closely. Beneath that hard place, His Spirit is cultivating yours, transforming you in His light.
Reading & Prayer
Context: Lamentations 3:22-33, 1 Peter 5:6-11
In-depth: Lamentations 3
