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/.
I have been struggling with my career and have been praying for God’s direction. I feel stuck in my career and would like to make a change but I’m so undecided on how/where to make the change. I wouldn’t mind finishing my graduate degree but still very undecided of where I’m headed. I feel like I’ve been keeping g my eyes and heart open but am still needing His help.
I need God to show up in the health of my husband. He has chronic pain in his neck, back, shoulders and hips. His neck is forming into a hunch back (a genetic thing), the discs in his spine are wearing down, and he has arthritis in his hips. He also has diabetes and takes insulin. He is the bread winner in our home and does a fantastic job, however they recently lost their contract. He will still have other work, but not in his chosen field. I am thankful for his grateful attitude and he is an amazing dad and husband. I have been praying for healing for his body for years and also for him to be able to quit smoking which he started at age 12. It’s so hard to see him in pain every day. But maybe God has already shown up (he was close to death a few years ago due to the diabetes), maybe God has extended his life and that I am to be grateful for just that…
Well, I haven’t been in an intentional relationship with God until as of late when I needed Him. Being in relationship with Him no matter what can only be good. I really need to be more intentional in my relationship with Him especially with my daughter/ family as well as work and household!
During the day with my kiddos. I tend to need him but be too busy in all the chaos.
I desperately need God in my personal life, more than ever.
I pray everyday sometimes several times a day looking for answers in my life
God has shone up for my business or should I say his business that he has allowed me to run
I’m sitting in a marriage that I feel is over and has been over for many years
I pray for this I pray for a change I pray for joy and peace in my life
I just want to be happy truly happy
This is my struggle
I desperately need the Lord in my heart and to change my thinking. I often feel as though I just want to be with my son Ryan ( forever 27 ) whom I lost on May 29,2020 in my arms from the disease of alcoholism and addiction. The same disease I struggle with but it seems like has destroyed my whole family and everyone I love including my fiancé Scott. I need the Lord in my grief and in every area of my life. I know the word of God tells me that I am here for a reason and I do believe that I would’ve already taken my life I feel so lonely, broken and defeated. Why did you have to take my only child home and leave me here and lime this ?
The one area I feel particularly disconnected from God is in my work. I work in corporate America and I long for more fulfilling work. I’ve been in auto-pilot in this area for many years. God, I pray that you can breathe new life into this area of my life. I pray that your will can be done for how you want me to spend my career. I pray that I can show your love to others through my work. I pray that you can sustain me and I can accept whatever changes come to pass. I pray that I can discern and feel your will at work in my life. Amen <3
work. i feel so guilty for building my business and wanting to scale it to new heights. I’ve been told by members of my church that being my own boss and setting my own pay is "anti-Christian." I’ve been reprimanded by setting boundaries that were assumed to have been for the progress of my business instead of going on church retreats. I feel guilty for working for money and as though anything besides prayer, worship, giving to the homeless, serving to check the box is evil.
Relationship with husband
Family Life Ministry has a Weekend To Remember to help spouses connect with each other and with God . I recommend it .
DISCONNECTED: Relationships
Need God to show up: Family