When enthusiasm fades

There’s a quiet grief that settles in when you realize you’re not as spiritually alive as you once were.

You remember when Scripture felt personal. When worship moved you. When prayer wasn’t a task—it was oxygen. But somewhere along the way, life got loud. Responsibilities grew. Disappointments stacked up. And what once felt vibrant now feels distant.

Timothy Keller once said that to live cut off from God is to become a spiritual corpse before physical death ever comes. That’s sobering. Because spiritual drift rarely feels dramatic. It feels gradual. Subtle. Almost reasonable.

But here’s the hope: losing enthusiasm doesn’t mean God moved.

It means we drifted.

Enthusiasm isn’t hype. It’s not personality. It’s proximity. The word literally comes from En Theos — “in God” or “filled with God.” When we are filled with God, passion follows. When we distance ourselves from Him, dullness follows.

So the question isn’t, “Why don’t I feel excited?”

The better question is, “How close am I walking with Him?”

Hope is held onto when we return to proximity.

If you feel spiritually numb today, don’t panic. Don’t pretend. Don’t perform.

Return.

Walk with Him again. Open His Word again. Worship again. Not out of duty—but out of desire to be filled again.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.

He hasn’t moved. And He’s ready to refill what feels empty.