The first element of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, according to Jesus, is to convict us of our guilt. He comes, first and foremost, to bring us to an awareness of how far we have strayed from God and to allow us to feel the trauma of our conflict with God. If you have strayed from God, as we inevitably do, the first step to coming back is to feel the pain and emptiness of your position. It is only in this state that Jesus’ offer of salvation can have any meaning. My advice for those who feel spiritually dead is that you ask God to enable you to feel the deep sadness and emptiness of your position of alienation from him. To be alienated from God and to not feel the pain of it is to live in self-deception. It is no different than if a child lost a parent but then was unable to feel any grief. We would regard that as highly dysfunctional because that primal parent-child connection, when broken, is the greatest of all tragedies. If you are alienated from God, to any extent, then you are in a tragic position. This is cause for alarm and grief. If you want to walk in truth you must first face reality. If you have lost touch with God then I wish you great sadness. For sadness will lead you back to God. Only with God is real life and true joy. The worst thing that could ever happen to you in this life is that you end up being happy without God.
Ask God to allow you to feel the reality of your situation whatever that may be.
Read John 16:1-16
