The Biblical Claim

The idea that God is always with His people is woven all through Scripture. The big one people love to quote is:

“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or in dread of them, for the Lord your God is the One who is going with you. He will not desert you or abandon you.”

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NASB)

Jesus reinforces it in the New Testament:

“…and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:20 (NASB)

Seems airtight, right? God is with His people. Period. But if that’s the case, why does loneliness still crush so many believers?

The Presence of God: Literal or Perceived?

This is where theology stops being an academic exercise and starts messing with your actual life. The idea that “God is with you” is comforting in theory, but if you’re sitting alone in the dark, feeling the weight of your own breathing, you might wonder if that’s just a nice thing people say to avoid awkward silences.

There are at least three ways to think about God’s presence:

1. Omnipresence

God is everywhere, all the time. That’s standard doctrine. You can’t escape Him even if you try. Psalm 139:7-10 (NASB) makes it clear:

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will take hold of me.”

Psalm 139:7-10 (NASB)

In other words, whether you’re on top of the world or buried under it, God hasn’t lost track of you. But knowing that doesn’t always help. Because “being everywhere” isn’t the same as “being here, with me, in a way I can feel.”

2. Manifest Presence

This is when God shows up in a way that leaves no room for doubt. Burning bushes. Fiery pillars. Upper rooms filled with wind and tongues of fire. These moments are rare, but when they happen, they change everything. The problem? They don’t happen every day. Even in the Bible, people went years—decades—without this kind of encounter. So what then?

3. Relational Presence

This is the one people crave the most. The sense that God is not just technically here but emotionally, relationally, meaningfully present. That He sees, hears, understands, and cares. That He’s actually doing something in your life, not just floating around in an abstract way.

Most people struggling with loneliness aren’t questioning omnipresence. They want that felt presence—the kind that makes them sure God is near. And when that feels absent? That’s when theology collides with human experience.

The Bible is full of people who felt abandoned by God despite knowing, intellectually, that He was there. Job sits in the ashes and asks why God has disappeared. David writes psalms that swing between certainty and despair. Even Jesus, hanging on the cross, cries out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

So what do you do with that?

Some will say, “Just have faith.” And sure, faith matters. But real faith isn’t pretending you don’t feel what you feel. It’s bringing that feeling to God and saying, “I don’t understand where You are right now, but I’m going to hold onto You anyway.” It’s Jacob wrestling with God in the dark, refusing to let go until he gets an answer.

God’s presence is real, whether you feel it or not. But that doesn’t mean the feelings don’t matter. They do. They drive people to their knees, to their Bibles, to long nights of questioning. And sometimes, in the middle of all that, they find that God was closer than they thought.

Why Do People Feel Alone Even If God Is With Them?

It’s an old question, older than coffee and regret. If God is always near, why does He sometimes feel so far? The Bible is full of people—prophets, kings, apostles—who wrestled with this very thing. And if they had doubts, maybe it’s not so shocking that we do too.

1. Sin Separates – Or At Least Numbs Us to His Presence

Isaiah 59:2 lays it out:

“But your wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”
Isaiah 59:2 (NASB)

This doesn’t mean God literally packs up and leaves when someone sins. He’s not a landlord evicting a tenant. But theologians like Augustine have long argued that sin dulls the spiritual senses. It’s like wearing noise-canceling headphones in a room full of music—you won’t hear the melody, even though it’s playing.

2. God Withdraws the Felt Presence to Test & Strengthen Faith

Job had it bad. He lost everything but still held onto faith—despite feeling abandoned:

“Behold, I go forward but He is not there,
And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
When He acts on the left, I cannot see Him;
He turns to the right, but I cannot see Him.
But He knows the way I take;
When He has put me to the test, I will come out as gold.”
Job 23:8-10 (NASB)

Many scholars, like John Walton, point out that this absence wasn’t about punishment but refinement. It’s the same reason parents don’t do their kid’s homework. Growth requires struggle.

3. People Expect Drama, But God Works in Whispers

Elijah learned this the hard way. After calling down fire from heaven, he fled in terror from Jezebel and had a full-blown existential crisis. He expected God to show up in a spectacle—earthquakes, storms, fire. But instead, God spoke in a whisper:

“And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire;
and after the fire, a sound of a gentle blowing.”
1 Kings 19:12 (NASB)

Theologians like Dietrich Bonhoeffer argued that modern believers have the same problem. We want fireworks, but God often prefers a quiet conversation. If we only expect Him in the dramatic, we might miss Him in the everyday.

What Do Biblical Historians Say?

• N.T. Wright (New Testament scholar) suggests that feelings of divine absence aren’t unique to individuals but reflect a broader experience of exile. Even when Israel returned from Babylon, they still felt like God’s presence wasn’t fully restored. This echoes in modern faith—feeling alone can sometimes be a sign that we’re longing for the full redemption that hasn’t come yet.
• Craig Keener (Biblical historian) points out that in the early church, persecution often made believers feel abandoned. But Paul countered this in Romans 8:38-39, reminding them that nothing—not hardship, not even death—could separate them from God.
• Augustine (Early Church Father) argued that spiritual dryness was part of the journey, calling it “God stretching the soul.” He compared it to hunger—it doesn’t mean food doesn’t exist, just that we’re meant to seek it out.

So, Are We Ever Really Alone?

The Bible says no. Feelings say otherwise. But faith isn’t about feelings—it’s about what’s true even when emotions don’t cooperate.

Does “Never Alone” Mean Never Lonely?

Here’s the kicker: No. Even Jesus felt alone. His cry on the cross—“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”—proves that feeling alone and being alone aren’t the same thing.

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’”

Matthew 27:46 (NASB)

Christian history backs this up. Saints, theologians, and mystics talk about the “dark night of the soul” (St. John of the Cross). Martin Luther wrestled with feeling abandoned by God. Mother Teresa had decades of spiritual emptiness. Yet none of them were actually alone.

Different Theological Views on God’s Presence

Reformed Perspective

The Reformed tradition stands on the idea that God is unwaveringly committed to those He has chosen. If you’re His, you’re His forever. No take-backs. No ghosting. Ephesians 1:13-14 makes it clear:

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 (NASB)

That “sealed” part? That’s like a divine warranty. According to Reformed theology, God’s presence isn’t something that flickers on and off based on human emotions or behavior. The Holy Spirit moves in and stays for good. Even when you feel alone, you’re not. Even when you can’t sense Him, He hasn’t left. It’s the spiritual equivalent of the sun still shining behind the clouds—you might not see it, but it’s there.

Wesleyan/Arminian View

This view takes human free will seriously. Really seriously. Unlike the Reformed stance, which insists that God’s presence is a permanent residence, the Wesleyan/Arminian perspective says you can walk away from it. You can slam the door in God’s face. He won’t force Himself on you.

The Bible has some chilling passages that suggest people can fall away. Hebrews 6:4-6, for instance, warns about those who have “tasted the heavenly gift” and then drift off, making it “impossible to renew them again to repentance.” In this view, God’s presence is deeply relational. He’s not leaving, but if you stop answering His calls, eventually, the line might go dead.

Mystical View

For those in the mystical traditions—think contemplative Catholics, Eastern Orthodox hesychasts, and even some charismatic Christians—God’s presence is always there, but being aware of it takes effort. It’s not that He’s distant; it’s that most people are too distracted to notice. Spiritual practices like silence, meditation, and contemplative prayer help believers tune in to what’s already present.

“Stop striving and know that I am God.”
Psalm 46:10 (NASB)

In this view, feeling alone isn’t a sign that God has left. It’s more like being in a loud room where you can’t hear Him. Mystics encourage practices that turn down the noise so that God’s presence, always steady, becomes clear again.

So, Are You Ever Really Alone?

Depends on who you ask. The Reformed camp says no—God’s got you, whether you feel it or not. The Arminian side says you can distance yourself, but that’s on you, not Him. The mystics say God never left, but your awareness of Him might be on mute. Whichever view you hold, one thing is constant: If you’re seeking Him, He’s not far.

The Paradox of Divine Presence

God is with you. That’s a fact, theologically speaking. But feeling that presence? That’s unpredictable. Sometimes it’s overwhelming; sometimes it’s hidden. Faith means believing it’s true even when the feeling isn’t there.

Additional Resources

Books:

These are Amazon affiliate links for these books. We use affiliate links to offset our operating costs. Using them helps us stay online. You don’t have to use these though; you can just search for the book. Happy reading!

• The Practice of the Presence of God
  by Brother Lawrence – A classic work that teaches cultivating an awareness of God’s presence in everyday life, encouraging a continuous and personal relationship with Him.
• Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence
  by Sarah Young – This daily devotional provides readers with reflections and scriptures to experience a deeper relationship with Jesus, emphasizing His constant companionship.

Web Resources:

• Psalm 139
  – This psalm beautifully articulates God’s intimate knowledge of us and His omnipresence, reinforcing the message that we are never alone.
• Matthew 28:20
  – In this verse, Jesus assures His disciples of His perpetual presence: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
• Psalm 91
  – Known as the Psalm of Protection, it emphasizes God’s sheltering presence amidst life’s dangers.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB®), Copyright © 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org