When believers feel spiritually distant from God, it's not abandonment but a biblical mystery. The speaker explains why God seems to hide: to make you seek Him, deepen your sensitivity, and grow toward Christ-likeness. View the absence as an invitation to pursue deeper intimacy.
One of the great mysteries of the Spirit is the Holy Spirit's hiding nature. Though he never leaves you, you will face times in your life when the Holy Spirit feels like he's a million miles away. But God is actually doing something powerful in those moments when you can't feel his presence. And I'll share that with you here. You see, the dove, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, is shown in Scripture to have a hiding nature. O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliffs, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely. In fact, it is in the nature of God to sometimes conceal himself. Verily, thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior. When you can't feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, you may at times find yourself jumping to conclusions. Did God abandon me? Did I do something wrong? Was everything I experienced before just emotion? Am I not as important as those other believers who seem to always feel God so closely? But you see, there are actually several reasons why God will withdraw from you just the sense of his presence. One of those reasons is to cause you to seek him. If you're always comfortable with where you are in the Spirit, you'll never climb higher. When it feels like the Holy Spirit's presence is being withdrawn, he isn't leaving you. He's leading you into deeper waters. God wants to be sought. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. As believers, we don't seek God to obtain his presence. We always have his presence. Rather, the seeking is more about the change in you. He wants you to seek him so that you become more aware of him, more sensitive to his voice, more responsive to his instructions, And more like him in nature. So the next time you don't feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, don't become fearful and desperate. Become faith-filled and motivated. When you don't feel him, the holy pursuit is on. He's moving up the mountain, and he intends for you to come up with him.
