When God feels distant, the speaker says He's testing whether you'll stay faithful without feeling His presence. Silence exposes your true motives: whether you obey out of genuine love or only when you sense accountability. This purifying season strengthens character by revealing what actions are real devotion and what's empty.
You know, when we feel like God is distant, it truly reveals character. Because when you feel like God is distant, maybe that's the opportunity for the sin nature to say, now I can get away with it. I don't sense his nearness. I don't sense his presence. And so I'm a little more comfortable in compromise now. What you do when you feel like God is at a distance reveals who you truly are in your character, in your nature. And God tests you in these moments. He looks to see, are they still faithful even when they feel like I'm at a distance? Do they still seek me as a discipline, even when they don't have some experience of ecstasy? Do they still obey me, even when they don't sense my hand weighing heavily upon them? Do they still trust me, even when they don't feel like I'm there in the room with them? Do they still walk as if I walk with them, even when they're not aware of my nearness? He's testing you. He's testing you. And this season will purify your motives, because in this season, either you're doing it because you love God or you're not doing it at all. That is what's happening in this moment.
