God Is Working Behind The Scenes

Even in the low points of our spiritual journey, God is still working on us. Even when it feels like we’ve hit a brick wall and no spiritual fruit is growing, changes are happening behind the scenes. More often than not, God’s timing is slow and more about the journey rather than a miraculous change, teleported to a distant destination with the snap of a finger.

Spiritual Growth During Hard Times: Quick Fixes vs Long Term Fruit

It would be much easier if God usually worked through quick fixes but he knows (as do we) that quick fixes don’t address the problem. They don’t build any character or provide stable roots that will be able to nourish spiritual fruit for years to come. Perseverance is the recipe for growth despite how much we hate it.

But we all still like to see some evidence of growth, especially when we’re doing all the right things and putting in the time and effort. Or more accurately (at least for me) I want to feel the process. I want to be able to notice the difference within myself and feel the presence of God in my daily life.

Why Can’t I Feel God’s Presence Anymore?

But for whatever reason, God doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes we don’t feel the presence of God because of the hardness of our hearts or some area of our life that is pushing God away. Other times, though, we’re doing all the right things, and we still feel empty. We still feel spiritually dead.

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I’m in one of those spiritual seasons right now. Over the past few months I’ve made it a priority to get up extra early to spend time with God through reading scripture, prayer, and meditation. The first month or so was great. I was full of motivation and feeling a deep sense of contentment, seeing the work that God was doing.

Until I wasn’t.

I’ve continued dedicating the first hour of morning to prayer, but for about the past month and a half, spiritual life has just been very dull and blah. Without seeing and feeling the presence of God, that motivation has been harder to muster. I’ve begun to question why I’m even doing this, if it’s even worth doing right now, and hearing all the other egotistical whispers of the false self louder than before.

God Is Working Behind The Scenes, Even When We Can’t See It

And yet, last night I found myself surprised at my mostly controlled reaction to a situation I would’ve usually wrecked by my need to be right. While I did make an effort to try to keep my pride out of it, that never stopped it before. I don’t feel God today anymore than I did yesterday. But I’m learning to trust the process.

God is working even when we don’t see it. That is part of the process of learning to walk by faith. I’ve grown tired of my actions fluctuating depending on how I feel in God’s weather. Cold? Then I run to the comfort of my selfishness. Hot? Then I’m suddenly running back into his arms and can’t get enough.

If we have to feel the presence of God to keep walking on our spiritual journey, we are slaves to our emotions. We must be determined to keep planting seeds even in the midst of winter and when living in perpetual night. Even when we can’t see God working or see any possibility of things growing without heat or light, we must keep walking, trusting that he is always working behind the scenes.

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