We all want to know how to draw closer to God, but when life hurts and everything feels confusing, closeness can seem impossible. Maybe you’re in one of those seasons—overwhelmed by circumstances, broken by disappointment, or betrayed by someone you trusted. It’s easy to feel God is distant when our hearts are shattered.

But Scripture tells a different story. Over and over, we see God pursuing people right in the middle of their messiest moments. Moses met Him after failure, the woman at the well encountered Him in her shame, and Jacob wrestled with Him through a long, dark night of discouragement. Each of them discovered that when life falls apart, God steps closer—not to punish, but to redeem and empower.

If you’re wondering how to get closer to God when everything feels heavy, this is for you. Let’s look at how He uses our pain, our loneliness, and even our disappointment to draw us nearer to His heart.

When You Feel Overwhelmed God is ‘growing’ You Closer

Moses didn’t plan on spending forty years in the desert. But that’s where he ended up—on the far side of nowhere, tending someone else’s sheep. Every day he walked the same dusty paths, following the flock, probably replaying that one terrible moment when his temper cost him everything. Pharaoh’s palace was a lifetime ago. Now he was a man without a mission.

What Moses didn’t realize was that God had enrolled him in a forty-year training program. No diploma, no applause, just long days of quiet reflection under the desert sun. He was learning humility, patience, and the art of listening—skills that would one day matter more than royal education or influence.

When God Speaks Try Not to Argue🙃

Then one ordinary day, God interrupted the routine. A bush burst into flame, and a voice called his name. And what does Moses do? He argues.
He tells God He’s got the wrong man, wrong plan, wrong timing.
That’s how divine redirection usually feels—wrong to us. It rarely fits the picture we had in mind.

But in the wilderness, God was preparing Moses for a new kind of leadership—one shaped not by confidence, but by dependence.
And the same may be true for you. What feels like a derailment may actually be God’s classroom.
The delay you resent might be the space where He’s reshaping your heart for what’s next.

Reflection Prompt:
If life feels off course, and you want to get closer to God, try asking Him, “What are You teaching me in this wilderness?” Don’t rush the lesson—He may be writing a new chapter that only begins when you stop trying to turn back the page.

When You Feel Broken — God Sees You and Still Chooses You

The woman at the well knew what it felt like to be avoided. She came for water in the heat of the day because no one else would be there. That says a lot. Shame will make you plan your life around other people’s absence.

But Jesus went out of His way to be there—at that well, at that hour, for that woman.
He started the conversation, not her. He asked for a drink, not because He needed it, but because He wanted her heart to open. She didn’t know who He was, but He knew exactly who she was—her past, her present, and every ache she carried from being passed from one man to another like a burden instead of a blessing.

Hearing His Purpose Over Your Own Pain

What always stops me in this story is that Jesus doesn’t shame her. He tells her the truth, yes—but He also tells her she’s the first person He’s openly revealed Himself to as the Messiah. Not Peter, not John, not any of the Twelve. This woman with the complicated past gets the first clear declaration of who He really is. And He wants her to have a role in what He has come to earth to do. He’s enlisting her help.

If you’ve ever felt discarded, unseen, or too messy for ministry, remember that scene. Jesus still sits beside wells, still waits for women who’ve been written off by others. He turns shame into testimony. He turns isolation into invitation. If you want to get closer to Him, stop avoiding your pain, start examining what He is saying to you through it.

Reflection Prompt:
Where in your life have you been avoiding the “well”—the place of honesty with God? Sit with Him there today. You might discover He’s been waiting for you all along.

When You’ve Been Betrayed — God Is Closer Than You Think

Jacob had spent his whole life hustling for blessings.
He’d grabbed, schemed, and negotiated his way through every relationship—his brother, his father, his father-in-law. And it had finally caught up with him. The night before he was to face Esau again, Jacob found himself alone. No family, no livestock, no distractions. Just silence and fear.

That’s when God showed up—not with comfort, but with a wrestling match.
They struggled until dawn, and Jacob clung to Him, demanding a blessing. But the blessing didn’t come through winning; it came through surrender. This is one of the keys of how to get closer to God: surrender.
At daybreak, Jacob limped away, forever changed.

Learning the Lessons of Trust

Discouragement does that—it empties us of all the ways we’ve tried to make life work on our own. We’ve charted our own course, created our own plans for happiness, even tried to remake the people we love so life would finally feel the way we imagined. But it doesn’t. No matter how tightly we grip, things slip through our fingers. And that’s when God, in His mercy, lets us wrestle. Not to defeat us, but to deliver us from our need to control.

If you’re weary from striving, if you’re tired of being the one who has to fix, manage, and make sense of it all, you don’t have to keep fighting for a blessing. Just hold on to God. Let Him bless you through surrender. The limp that follows? That’s just evidence you’ve been changed by His touch—because you simply surrendered and held on to God.

Reflection Prompt:
Where are you weary from trying to make things work your way? What might happen if you stopped struggling and simply held on to God?

📖On a personal note it has never ever escaped me that the Pastor who baptized me chose Proverbs 3:5-6 as my ‘Baptism Verses’.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Getting Closer to God

Moses, the woman at the well, and Jacob couldn’t have been more different, yet their stories share one unshakable truth: God came looking for them. Not when they were strong or steady or full of faith, but when they were lost, lonely, and worn thin.

That’s the pattern of grace. God doesn’t wait until we’ve cleaned up our mistakes or untangled our emotions. He steps into the middle of the mess — the detours, the disappointments, and the discouragement — and says, “I’m here. Come closer.”

So if life feels off course or heavier than you can carry, take heart. Your wilderness might be holy ground. The place you’ve been avoiding may be where Jesus is waiting. And that long night of wrestling could end with the sunrise of a changed heart.

You don’t have to find your way back to God.
He’s already found His way to you.

A Prayer for Closeness
“Lord, when we feel overwhelmed, broken and betrayed, help us recognize Your hand at work.
Teach us to see Your nearness in the disruptions, Your mercy in the loneliness, and Your purpose in the struggles.
Draw us closer to You — not through our striving, but through our surrender.”

Want More?

Here’s an excellent article from Cru, Campus Crusade for Christ; it’s detailed and has so many encouraging Scriptures. I know you’ll be blessed.🔥https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/trust-god.html

I still love this post I wrote long ago. Maybe it’ll encourage your heart too. https://kellyjgrace.com/when-to-say-its-enough-lord/

Want something more light-hearted? Here’s a post for you.🙃 https://kellyjgrace.com/jesus-has-a-knack-for-repurposing/

Where are you right now in your journey with God? Feeling strong and closely connected with Him, or are you like one of the people we looked at in this post? Struggling with the hurt and confusion we sometimes confront in life. Wherever you are I’d love to hear from you, to pray for you and to let you know you’re never alone.

Thanks for reading and as always please share this post with friends or your followers on Social Media. And connect with me on Instagram @kellygrace

🖐️Bye for now!