I’ve been feeling spiritually dry of late.
Yep I said it. The spirituality coach is spiritually dry.
We all go through seasons where our faith is tested. Where we feel like God is silent. Sometimes, we actively avoid Him so we don’t need to process or grow through what He’s allowed to come into our life.
As you know I’ve had a migraine the past 3 weeks. Sometimes pain can just be that, physical but often it can be a sign that something needs to be done further. So I took a step back from looking at the computer so much and once I sunk into the emotion I realised I was really angry.
Actually I was super pissed off. (Excuse the language. It’s my best way to explain my raw rage).
You see, when I don’t want to process something I’ll bottle it up inside, avoid people and places and especially busy myself with mindless things. You know, scroll through social media, and watch Dr Phil or YouTube.
You see one door was closing for me (and maybe when I’m ready I’ll share without being all cryptic). In fact, I even prayed that God would close that door. And He did. And I was surprised.
Yep. He answered prayer.
But in doing so it brought up a whole heap of attachments I clearly had.
Connie Chapman mentioned in her Inner Abundance course that:
You can get attached to what happens in your external circumstances and give them a lot of power. This can lead you to living life in a reactive and roller coaster like way.
And that’s what I had been doing. I was angry for friendships and roles changing. My anger manifesting itself through road rage, avoiding people and places and through mindlessness.
And here is what I realised:
- I want to feel accomplished so I seek this through blogging, teaching, coaching.
- I want to feel safe so I avoid processing my emotions.
- I want to feel loved so I socialise and make appointments when I’m booked already to the rim.
- I want to feel seen and I seek this though roles in church, school and in general.
- I want to feel valuable and I seek this through being busy and taking on too much.
And you have the same blocks too don’t you? You want to feel a particular way so you seek this through doing something else.
I want to feel connected to God right now in this spiritually dry patch but I busy myself to avoid dealing with my emotions.
So what can you do when feeling spiritually dry?
- Instead of busying yourself, sit with the discomfort that is coming up for you. Where do you feel it? What is it bringing up for you? (Thanks for this tip, Connie Chapman).
- Play a podcast when you don’t feel like reading your Bible or whatever text it is that is calling out for your attention. I find just playing something forces me to see God or a situation in a whole new way.
- Speak with a mentor, pastor, or trusted friend or family member. Let them know how you are feeling so you can have accountability. Bottling it up will just continue to give you that heaviness you have in your chest. Talk and process it out.
- Find out how you can get the particular attachment for yourself. Example: I want to feel accomplished. I could find other ways of feeling accomplished by celebrating the good things that are happening, by having a gratitude process and through affirming in myself I am loved and accomplished.
- Get creative – try to reconnect with God through Art Therapy (just draw, paint or even cut out pictures from magazines that represent where you are at right now). You might even use an Adult colouring in book, or cross stich or exercise. Try to use that time to process why you are feeling spiritually dry.
Have you gone through spiritually dry patches? What did you do to get through it? How did you feel? Comment below and let’s get a conversation started. Please share using the buttons below if you loved the post.