A few years ago, Pew Research did a survey to find out what Americans mean when they say they believe in God. Although they found that a majority of people (56% to be exact) said they believe in God as described in the Bible, only 28% said they talk to God and that God talks to them, while almost twice as many (47%) said they talk to God but that God does not talk to them.1 The thing about statistics is that they always portray numerically what many of us already know experientially. And these statistics are no exception. So many of us say we believe in God, we affirm his existence, we trust what Scripture tells us about him, and yet, we still find ourselves feeling disconnected from him.
Our lives are complicated and, too often, chaotic. We’re daughters, sisters, mothers, friends, wives. We’re students, teachers, lawyers, artists, politicians, doctors, CEOs. Our day-to-day lives pull us in what feels like a hundred different directions, from late nights at the office, to weekends spent chauffeuring kids, to trying our best to be the world’s greatest aunt/boss/sister/girlfriend. Even so, the world continues to turn, rolling out so many hashtags, campaigns, social causes, cries for justice, we can hardly keep up. And while we do our best to manage our hundred-miles-an-hour lives, so many of us do so looking forward to the rest we hope we’ll find at the other side of one more deadline or promotion, one more bake sale or booster club meeting, one more blind date or pound lost.
This is, after all, what it means to live in the twenty-first century, or so we tell ourselves. And while that may be true, our longing for rest, our longing for stability, for something we can depend on, someone we can trust, is as old as time. So, we do what so many Christians have done before us. We pray. We reach out to God—the God we believe in, the God of the Bible—only to find ourselves on the wrong end of a statistic, on one end of what can feel like a chasm of universal proportions.
It’s one of the ironies of life that it’s in the midst of the hard moments, when we feel most disconnected from God, that we’re led to ask the deep questions of faith. Questions like, “Are you there, God? Are you working in the world? Do you keep your word?” The same questions that have been asked by countless generations before us.
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to unpack these questions as we study the covenants we find in Scripture. And as we look at how God has worked in the world and in the lives of his people, we’ll be reminded once again that not only is God there, but more importantly, he is here—with us, always present and always working in our world and in our lives.
1 “When Americans Say They Believe In God, What Do They Mean?,” Pew Research Center, Pew Research,April 23, 2018, https://www.pewforum.org/2018/04/25/when-americans-say-they-believe-in-god-what-do-they-mean/04-25-18_beliefingod-00-00/.
Work and Finances. I recognize we are provided for, and that blessing is immense. The feeling that can change is always around the corner. And everyone I feel a positive shift in a more secure situation, something unexpected changes and we are back to square one. I’m exhausted and feel like I am failing.
Yes! I am a daughter of a minister and now a minister’s wife and I feel neglected, lost, and alone in this roll. The fire for ministry that I once had is dull and used up. I feel used and abused by the church and I’ve allowed it to affect my personal relationship with God. I know He is faithful to the church but I honestly sometimes shake my head and say, “Why are you faithful to something so toxic?” And through all of it, I know He will show up.
I SO LOVE GOD and HIS WORD and RUN to Him day & night. 🥰
GOD IS MY EVERYTHING
I feel kinda lost because I can’t Hear GOD Speaking to Me and feel like I’m doing something wrong 😕
Like everyone else Knows the Secret of Hearing His Voice yet I don’t.
I pray daily for God to lead me, guide me, teach me, granting me Revelations of His Word and His Still, Small Voice Within of the Mind, Purpose and Will of God every man of my life.
I surrender All of me to Him and ASK for God’s Will Over Mine.
Could You please Grace me with YOUR Wisdom on HOW TO HEAR GOD’S GUIDE ME?
THANKS ❤️
Hearing Him – I don’t always think I know how to hear Him especially when Inread His Word and don’t fully understand it
School for my kids. It’s hard to see my kids getting hurt and struggling, and trusting God is there protecting them.
I know He has a plan, but it’s hard to trust when they are hurting.
I desperately need God to show up in all areas of my life. I remember what it was like to have Him always before me, I remember what it was like to be connected to Him and able to see Him at work. But I’ve slipped into a place where I just miss Him. I know I need to reconnect and I know that can only happen by making the time and space for us once again… but I’m struggling so much to be intentional in my time with Him. My priorities are all out of order but I can’t seem to right them. I’m praying this will be a new start as I seek to be close to Him once again
I need for God to support me through this recently discovered health challenge… I thought I was doing well, so this has come as quite a shock to me! Thank you!!! 💜
Family – My family has been a mess, my marriage, my relationships with my kids, my relationships with my brother and sister and father. I own and take responsibility for my part in it we have been a mess for many years and none of us came out of it without a lot of damage. It is hard to stop the carry forward when that is all you know but here we are and we are still trying. I had to let my husband go to relieve the daily stress of trying to live with someone who is mentally unstable and refuses to do anything about it. But I am believing that little by little God will show up and change things for us. I am never going to stop showing up for God and keep on walking in Him.
In the lives of a friend and their family. The friend is making destructive choices and turning away from God. It’s affecting the children, the grandparents, other extended family members…and friends, too.
Yes. I just got through COVID for first time. I am in recovery and still feel foggy and very low energy. While I was sick I felt fairly connected, but the brain fog I’m experiencing has definitely impacted my day to day. I’m connectedly daily in the word. But I feel somewhat distant. Not as close as I want to. I know He is there. I know this will pass. I continue to push through the recovery. I do need God to show up in my family. I need Him to show up for my daughter who is struggling and wrestling with her faith. I need Him to show up in my sisters lives and in my husbands too.