What does the Bible say about feeling far from God?
Isaiah 57:19 speaks of God offering peace to those who feel far off from Him, indicating a yearning for His presence.
The feeling of being 'afar off' is linked to a spiritual awareness of both God's perfect purity and our utter impurity. This revelation can lead to a deeper understanding of the atoning grace found in Jesus Christ. By becoming aware of their profound need for God and admitting their inadequacy, believers can begin to cry out for His mercy, leading to a hopeful transformation where God draws them near again with His love. Hence, it is through the experience of distance that one realizes the depth of God's grace.
Isaiah 57:19, Psalm 61:2
How do we know God's mercy is real?
God's mercy is demonstrated through His atoning love and the ability of believers to experience nearness after feeling far off.
Moreover, the experience of being drawn near to God brings about peace and comfort, showing that His mercy is not abstract but personalized. When God draws His people near, they often experience His love manifesting in various ways, such as through prayer, the Word, and communal worship. These acts of mercy, coupled with the assurance of salvation through Christ's atoning work, reinforce believers' understanding of God's mercy as a transformative reality in their lives.
Isaiah 57:19, Romans 5:8
Why is the concept of nearness to God important for Christians?
The nearness to God provides believers with peace, comfort, and assurance of His love, fostering spiritual growth.
In times of spiritual struggle or feelings of distance, understanding God's willingness to bring His people near is crucial for their faith journey. It highlights the transition from feeling estranged due to sin to being enveloped in His grace and mercy. This transformative process allows believers to rest in the knowledge that they are chosen and cherished by God. Such a relationship compels Christians to pursue holiness and share the Good News, reflecting the love they have received.
Philippians 4:7, James 4:8
"Peace, peace to him that is far off."
— Isaiah 57:19
Far off! What does that mean? It means that the soul passing through that experience is separated, in its feelings, and at an infinite distance from God. Now this inward sense of being "far off" is one of the most painful feelings that a quickened soul can experience. The ungodly, who are really afar off, know nothing experimentally of distance from God, for they have never been brought spiritually near. They have felt no "cords of love, no bands of a man" drawing them with sweet attraction to the throne of the most High; they have never sighed after the sweet manifestations of God's mercy and love; but they live gladly, and wallow wilfully in those things which separate the soul from its Maker.
But those who are "afar off" in their feelings, are such as have seen something of the beauty of the Lord, and felt the evil of sin, who spiritually know Jehovah's purity and the creature's impurity, and have experienced the inward curse, bondage, and condemnation of a holy law. A spiritual discovery of his purity and holiness, making manifest their own vileness, has thrust them down from their self-righteous or presumptuous standing, and made them far off from him; not daring to draw near, nor able to approach; not feeling any spiritual access, but sighing and mourning over their evil hearts in the wilderness, in desolate places; and unable to move a single step forward, because the Lord does not draw them by his smile.
A man must know something experimentally of this before he is brought near. How can we know a feeling of nearness if we have not known a feeling of distance? How can we know what it is to be brought "from the end of the earth" (Psalm 61:2) by the manifestation of God's mercy and love, unless we have been driven there, in our feelings, by some manifestation of the wrath of God against sin? But to see the blessed Lord, and not be able to draw near to him; to view his atoning blood at an infinite distance from us, his glorious righteousness well-near out of sight, and his lovely Person out of the reach of our spiritual view, so as not to enjoy any access to these glorious realities--to know this experimentally and feelingly, is to be "far off" from God. And I believe that God's people know very much of this feeling. There is not much nearness in our day; not much dandling upon the knees, not much smiling upon the soul, not many love visits, nor love tokens communicated. There is, indeed, a great deal of talking about them; and there are abundance of people who profess to have them; but I fear they are, for the most part, cheats and counterfeits. The real people of God, the true-hearted family are, for the most part, "afar off upon the sea," for it is a dark and cloudy day in which we live.
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