Is God’s Presence Real When You Don’t Feel?

What does experiencing the presence of God feel like? What feeling should we wait for that assures us of His presence? Is there an unusual warmth? A sensation? Is there a manifestation? 

We often rely too heavily on how we feel, or don’t feel, to gauge the realness of something. In determining God’s presence, we will likely feel nothing. God’s presence is not a feeling. But a truth. We don’t tangibly feel the presence of oxygen. But its existence is clear because we breathe and live. We don’t tangibly feel the presence of God, but He is life to us and we experience the effects of His being with us.

When, by faith, we believe in His existence, His sovereignty, and His Word; when we bow our hearts before Him and ask Him to be our Lord and Savior; then, He comes to abide in us and His indwelling presence becomes a known truth. (John 14:23, Ephesians 3:17) Even though we cannot reach out and touch Him physically, we know He walks each step with us. So when hard times come, the truth of His presence becomes a rock under our feet.

The presence of God does not mean we receive an exemption from experiencing depths of sorrow and pain, of disappointment and betrayal. Indeed we feel these with profound intensity. And the intensity of our feelings can lead us to wrongly believe that God is not present. If He were, we surmise, He would rescue us from these acute feelings of hurt and pain. 

But, faith and feelings seldom go hand in hand. By faith, not feelings, we know the presence of God. Without perceived physical touch, we know God is with us. His very Name proclaims this. Emmanuel. God with us.

As my husband and I look back on this very difficult year, we realize that we did not “feel” God’s tangible presence. But we knew then and know now, verified by anecdotes of small graces or epic narrative of “foot prints in the sand”, He carried us.

The presence of God gave strength to walk into an ICU room, though our eyes had witnessed through the window each second pulsated a crashing crisis. Driving home in the wee hours of the darkest night of our souls, the presence of God held the steering wheel, and our hearts. Sitting at home in the darkness, literally shaking with the depth of loss, we knew His compassionate mercy wrapped around us like a blanket.

The closeness of God gave direction and guidance through innumerable decisions and detailed action when numbness fogged our minds. God’s nearness was in the plethora of expressions of love and compassion, hugs and tears, that poured in through our back door, soothing our raw wounds. That we continue to breathe even now, as triggered memories bring our loss to the forefront and shatter us in the middle of an ordinary day, attests to His presence and ever-present help. (Psalm 46:1)

Even though we cannot reach out and touch God, or hear an audible voice, or lay eyes on His glory, with absolute certainty He stands with us in the thick of our hards. In faith, believing His Word and His character, we know He is with us. (Matthew 28:20) We know He holds our right hand. (Isaiah 41:13) We know He carries us. (Isaiah 46:4) We cannot be separated from His love. (Romans 8:38-39)

If we go through times when we experience a perceived lack of His presence, He has not moved. We have. Our hearts have lost focus on Him. Unconfessed sin blocks our experience of Him. Difficult circumstances cast doubt perhaps He has left us. But He will never leave us nor forsake us. (Joshua 1:5) In those times, we must refocus the eyes of our heart back on God and His attributes and promises. We must repent of sin, and “convert the feeling of abandonment by God into an act of abandonment to God.” (Zeleski)

When we “practice the presence of the Lord“ we are not working to drum up a feeling. We focus on His abiding presence and simply acknowledge, “Lord, according to your Word, I know You are with me in this moment. I need not fear, for You are with me. (Isaiah 41:10) I need not rely on my own power, for You are my strength and my shield. (Psalm 28:7, Psalm 73:26) I need not dread any given moment, because You will be there with me.” (Psalm 139: 7-10) 

We don’t rely on feelings or seek a sign of God’s presence. We know He is the oxygen in our hards, keeping us breathing and living. In faith, we believe and therefore expect to know the comfort of His presence. And He does not disappoint. He does not fail us. He remains faithful to all He has spoken, to all He has promised, to all that He is.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash