When Your Soul Feels Dry

Still believe in God but feel numb, distant, and spiritually dry? In this episode, see how God meets you in the desert places of your soul and gently awakens your desire for His presence again.Have you ever gone through a season where you keep showing up to church, maybe even reading your Bible and praying, but inside you feel…nothing?You still believe. You haven’t walked away. But your soul feels flat. Your prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling. Worship songs don’t move you like they used to. You look back on times when you felt close to God and quietly wonder, “What’s wrong with me now?”In this episode, Bart tells the story of C.S. Lewis after the death of his wife. The man who had written so beautifully about faith found himself sitting alone in a quiet house, feeling like God had “slammed the door” in his face and double-bolted it. He still believed, but he felt numb and abandoned. His soul was dry, and the God he’d written about seemed a million miles away. Instead of pretending he was okay or walking away from God, Lewis chose a different path.Through his journal (which later became A Grief Observed) and the words of Psalm 63:1, you’ll see that spiritual dryness is not a sign that your faith is broken; it can be the place where God does some of His deepest work.Psalm 63:1 (NLT) says:“O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you.My soul thirsts for you;my whole body longs for youin this parched and weary landwhere there is no water.”David wrote those words in the wilderness, not in a peaceful prayer retreat. He knew what it felt like to be in a “parched and weary land”, outside and inside. Instead of hiding it, he brought his thirst, his dryness, and his longing straight to God.Bart unpacks how C.S. Lewis did something similar. In A Grief Observed, Lewis poured out raw questions, anger, confusion, and silence to God over and over again. He didn’t clean it up. He didn’t fake closeness he didn’t feel. But as time passed, the tone of his writing slowly shifted—from sharp pain to a humbler, quieter trust. He never got all the answers he wanted, but he discovered that even when God felt absent, God was still holding him.Lewis moved from simply writing about thirst to living Psalm 63:1: “my soul thirsts for you…in this parched and weary land.” His story reminds us that dryness doesn’t mean the end of faith. It can be the beginning of a more honest, deeper relationship with God.If your soul feels dry right now, this episode will remind you that:You are not the first believer to feel far from God.Thirst is not failure; it’s evidence that your heart is still alive.You don’t have to fix your dryness before you come to God; you come to Him in your dryness.Honest, even messy prayer is often how God slowly awakens your desire for Him again.You’ll be encouraged to stop pretending you’re “fine,” and instead begin talking to God from where you really are: tired, numb, confused, or just flat. And you’ll see that those simple, honest prayers can become the doorway to renewed desire and a softer, more responsive heart.Main Scripture:Psalm 63:1 (NLT) –“O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you.My soul thirsts for you;my whole body longs for youin this parched and weary landwhere there is no water.”By the end of this episode, you’ll be reminded:That dry seasons are a normal part of the Christian life, not proof that God has left you.That God can handle your honest questions, disappointment, and numbness.That continuing to seek God, even when you don’t feel Him, is itself an act of faith.That spiritual drought can become the very place where God gently rekindles your hunger for Him.Today’s Challenge:Find a quiet moment today, maybe in your car, on a walk, or sitting at the edge of your bed, and pray Psalm 63:1 out loud, honestly and in your own words.You might say something like:“God, You are my God. Right now I feel dry and far from You. My soul doesn’t feel alive, but I want to thirst for You again. Meet me in this parched and weary place.”If you can, write Psalm 63:1 on a card or in your notes app and keep it somewhere you’ll see it. Let that verse become your prayer in this season, trusting that God hears you even when your feelings haven’t caught up yet.Encouraged by today’s devotion?Share this episode with someone who feels far from God or spiritually numb right now. A simple link from you might be the reminder they need that dryness is not the end of their story.https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/136And if this podcast has helped you, please follow and leave a review. It helps others find the same encouragement.https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/reviews/new/Want to keep these devotions coming? 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