Why Can’t I Sense God Like I Used To?

A Few Thoughts to Consider

Do you feel like you no longer hear from God?

Such was Job’s experience over and over again. In Job 22, Eliphaz accuses Job of great wickedness, claiming his suffering must result from wrongdoing, and urges Job to repent for restoration. Job responds in Chapter 23 with some very raw language, saying,

² “Today also my complaint is bitter. His hand is heavy despite my groaning. ³ If only I knew how to find him, so that I could go to his throne. ⁴ I would plead my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. ⁵ I would learn how he would answer me; and understand what he would say to me.”

“If only he could gain access to God, the problem of his vindication would be solved, Job believes.”^[1] If he could just explain his situation and show God how much he is hurting, then God would turn his situation around. But all he senses is silence, leaving Job to add:

⁸ If I go east, he is not there,
and if I go west, I cannot perceive him.
⁹ When he is at work to the north, I cannot see him;
when he turns south, I cannot find him.
¹⁰ Yet he knows the way I have taken;
when he has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold.
¹¹ My feet have followed in his tracks;
I have kept to his way and not turned aside.
¹² I have not departed from the commands from his lips;
I have treasured the words from his mouth
more than my daily food.

Job has looked everywhere and is at a loss. He’s looked outward in every direction, and he has certainly looked inward. Deep down, Job knows what God is doing. He knows he hasn’t sinned and that God is testing the depth of his faith. As John Hartley writes, “God’s distancing himself from Job’s consciousness reflects his trust in Job.”^[2]