We all go through times of spiritual highs and spiritual lows. Times when we feel super close to God and on fire for Him and other times when we aren’t as close to Him and don’t see His work in our lives.
This past summer was a time of spiritual low for me. This season of life was an in-between waiting period. I was trying to get a job, preparing to go off to college for the first time, trying to make the most of my summer, and nothing much was happening (or at least from what I could see). I was easily frustrated because things weren’t going how I expected it to be.
If I’m being honest, most of my days I would spend time with God and check it off my to-do list. Then go into my day ‘wanting to do God’s will’ but not seeking Him fully and acting on what He was calling me to do. No wonder why I was so distant from Him!
When we try to do things in our own power, we often fail. When we try to take hold of our life and find meaning on our own, it will leave us unsatisfied. Proverbs 16: 9 says, In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.’ God’s way ultimately rules and when we push against that there will be tension.
Instead, God wants us to bask in His presence seeking His fullness– whether we feel like it or not. How close we are to God shouldn’t be based on feelings. Although God create feelings and gave them to us for a reason, they can be unreliable. Feelings come and go, but God doesn’t. Instead, we need to be based on the truth.
God is never the issue or the one not as close. It is always us who are the problem, the one’s putting other things in the way and neglecting Him. He wants us to seek Him in our questioning, look to Him for the answers, go to Him when we are wrestling with our thoughts and ultimately fall back on Him when things go wrong. He is constantly pursuing every one of us and will not lose grip of us. And He is always there for us.
What God taught me in this season is that spiritual lows are when we need to rely on our faith the most and lean into God more— not less. In these times it’s easy to feel guilt and run away from God when that’s actually the opposite of what we should be doing. We need to rely on God’s past faithfulness and remember who He is, not being based on how we feel. We need to chase the truth, remember the Bible and recognize untrue thoughts. And hopefully through this, He will help us out of our rut and seek Him more.
I think faith is a term that gets thrown around so loosely in the Christian world. I think it can often be taken for granted and belittled. God made faith to be such a powerful thing and I am learning so much through that. Hebrews 11:1 says, ‘Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.’ Faith is the unshakable knowing of who God is and what He can do and trusting Him in that, even when we don’t understand– especially when things aren’t going our way.
I do believe God has a purpose for spiritual lows and wants to use them to bring us closer to Him. Personally I think that if I had not gotten closer to Him towards the end of the summer and realized how much I needed Him, I would not be as close to Him now, in college, in a time when I need Him a lot because of so much change. So I don’t think we should get frustrated in these times, but instead I think we should look for what God is trying to teach us and how we can draw closer to Him.
If you are in a time of spiritual low right now, I want to encourage you to not lose hope and patience. Intentionally and intimately seek God. Lean into Him. Don’t turn away from Him! Don’t forget Him! He is pursuing you and wants your heart. He will help you through this time and give you what you need. Don’t live based off of your emotions, but have faith.
Matthew 6:33 says, ‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic! What helps you through spiritual lows? How do you stay close to God when you don’t feel He is as close?
I hope you have a great day and that this could encourage you in some way!
Love, Ainsley
Ainsley hope Blog 