The assurance of our relationship with God is based on the authority of His Word. God loves you and you are His child. This is the reality for all who have believed in Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Your subjective feelings do not change God’s objective truths about you.
On a cloudy or rainy day, you do not see the sun. That does not mean that the sun is no longer there. The sun is just as bright and warm behind those clouds. In the same way, you may not feel close to God at times. That does not mean that God is no longer in you. The promise of God is unchangeable. “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5). The Holy Spirit who now dwells in you is there to stay because God “sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment” (2 Corinthians 1:22).
When you start to feel as if your relationship with God doesn’t exist, go to the facts of the Bible to strengthen your faith in God’s love for you. We live by faith in the trustworthiness of God, and His Word. Our faith is anchored in the truth of God’s Word, and in what we know about God’s character.
That is why God through the Apostle Paul commands us: “Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). You renew your mind with the truths of the Word of God. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak through His Word, and you will fully embrace who God truly is and who you are in Christ.
The late Dr. Bill Bright, co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, gives us a helpful illustration.
The truths of who God is and God’s Word are the fact that drives your Christian living. It is powered by your faith. Your feelings are for the ride. The train will run with or without the passenger car (FEELING).
Feelings are powerful. God has given them to us as a gift. Like everything beautiful God has given to humanity, feelings have become out of control because of our sins. But redeemed by Christ, feelings can serve their original purposes when they are brought under the Lordship of Jesus. Feelings no longer control us. We control feelings by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Our feelings will often follow when we move (act) by faith in God and in His Word.
You now live in a new reality. You are in Christ. Now you need to live it out. By faith in God and his trustworthiness, you can change your perspective and begin to live a life according to the new reality.