Why is it that you don’t feel the Holy Spirit? Did something [music] go wrong? Is God mad at you? Was everything you felt before just emotions? [music] Are you not as important to God as those who seem to always feel him? I want to talk to you [music] about this. Why does it feel sometimes like the Holy Spirit isn’t near to you? Why does it feel like sometimes he’s a million miles away? There are some days where you sense the presence of the Holy Spirit.

You can sense him in your emotions. Maybe even you can sense that physical manifestation of his power. [music] And then there are days where you’re aware of him. Yet sometimes it seems that the Holy Spirit has abandoned you. Now, we know he doesn’t do that. But what do you do in those seasons? More importantly, what is God doing in those seasons where you don’t feel like the Holy Spirit is with you? Where you don’t feel the sense of his presence? Well, first of all, he’s teaching you to live by faith.

You can’t live by faith if all you’re ever doing is relying upon [music] your feelings. Watch this now in James 1 2-4. Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, notice here that we read, “When troubles come,” not if they come, when they come, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow. For when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. Look, it’s difficult to feel God in difficult times. Sometimes the emotional pain distracts you from the sense of his presence.