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God is awesome, no doubt about that. Christ-followers know that there is an inherent excitement that comes with living with a purpose and intentionality that comes only with a life marked by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But there are also times we experience deserts and valleys, or whatever you’d like to call them. These are the places we feel far from God. We feel as though God has deserted us, but we often neglect to see what God has to say about our lives.

Ecclesiastes 5:1-2,6 (ESV)

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools…be not rash with your mouth…let your words be few…let not your mouth lead you into sin.

Ecclesiastes 5:7 (NLT)

Talk is cheap, like daydreams and other useless activities. Fear God instead.

From time to time we find ourselves in that desert place, where we don’t feel passion or excitement for God, and many times feel completely disconnected from his presence. But there’s a few things we need to ask ourselves when we feel far from God…

1. Are your feet pointed toward the house of God? What are you walking toward? Are you walking at all? Look at your feet!
2. What stirs your affections for Christ? Add those things to your life! (e.g., surrounding yourself w/other Christians, getting alone with his Word, being in nature, worship music, etc.)
3. Listen! We can’t say God isn’t speaking when Hebrews 4:12 tells us his Word is ”living and active!” We just have to listen! Even though God feels far away, you will eventually have to decide for yourself if you believe if the scriptures are TRUE, or if God was just kidding all along…
4. Quote scripture back to God—and believe it! “God, remember in your Word when you said you’d never leave or forsake me?” (e.g., Heb. 13:5, Joshua 1:5, Isaiah 49:14-15 Psalm 27:35)
5. Draw near to listen…THIS IS SO IMPORTANT! Do you believe his words are TRUE???
6. Do something! Far too many people leave the doors of the church with good intentions, but more often than not people instead DO NOTHING! Show that you know who God is by your actions, not your intentions or dreams. Dreams are simply not real.
7. Listen! Why? Because it’s important. Too often we say God’s not speaking, but in reality we’re simply too busy to listen.
8. Realize that sometimes God ordains the desert in your life. God may need to speak to you in the desert, knowing that’s the only place where you’ll hear what he has to say. Sometimes we have to be in the desert to be truly thirsty!

Hosea 2:14-15 (ESV)

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.

And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.”

James 4:8 (ESV)

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.