I feel empty inside...does anyone else feel this sometimes?

[thequietsinger]

For the past couple of days, I’ve felt very empty, and somewhat alone, even though I’ve been spending a lot of time with my family, and I’ve had the ability to talk to my best friend more now than I have been able to in the past few weeks. I don’t feel like I’m drifting away from God, or from my faith. Yet the emptiness is still there, lingering, and it’s just not going away. I don’t know what I should do. Has anyone felt like this before, or have any suggestions on things that might help?

Thank you all. God Bless!

 

[ccmcmg]

Yes, I think we all feel that way sometimes. I think it’s important to continue to pray, even while feeling empty. Go to Mass, go to Confession.

I have felt ‘empty’ inside and think that my prayers are meaningless when I do. They aren’t. I will try to pray (even though it feels more like ‘reciting’) the Rosary. I’m blessed to have many Masses to choose from, as well as parishes, that if I need to, I can go almost any time of the day.

I pray that you are able to fill that emptiness with the Love of Jesus Christ our Lord. Do NOT despair.

 

[MaryT777]

Yes, St Augusitne writes ‘Our hearts are restless, Oh Lord, until they rest in you’
I think he makes a valid point that our emptiness is a longing for God.
Mary.

 

[Norm640]

Often that happens when Christmas is over and the seasonal blahs come in. And quite frankly, some people always feel that way. Like me. There are some prayers that help me. I have always received grace from praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Always. Give it a shot.

For the past couple of days, I’ve felt very empty, and somewhat alone, even though I’ve been spending a lot of time with my family, and I’ve had the ability to talk to my best friend more now than I have been able to in the past few weeks. I don’t feel like I’m drifting away from God, or from my faith. Yet the emptiness is still there, lingering, and it’s just not going away. I don’t know what I should do. Has anyone felt like this before, or have any suggestions on things that might help?

Thank you all. God Bless!

 

[Cricket2]

You are not alone. This emptiness could be part of God preparing you for something different in your life and a way of strengthening your Faith in Him. It does happen to all of us. Keep praying, and if you have the opportunity seek some spiritual guidance from a good confessor. There are a number of Saints that discuss this in their lives. You might try looking for the writings of St. John of the Cross and St. Theresa. (The Story of a Soul.)

 

[hope19]

I feel like that sometimes me too.

I think it is because God want to strenthen our faith in Him and to test us how much we love Him.

We should be attached to God Himself, not to the joy that He brings us sometimes because He can retire it at anytime.

Continue to pray!

 

[spina1953]

The quietsinger: Remember all of the saints have felt emptiness inside, what we Carmelites call the dark night of the soul. Often God does this to prepare one to become more deeply in union with Him. Prayer and the faith that God is always present even when He is not felt. St. Theresa of Calcutta went almost through life with darkness and emptiness but continued to pray. She you might remember cared for the poorest of the poor those none cared for or wanted; to see the face of Christ in each and everyone… I have been there ,the emptiness to feel adandoned by God. Put you trust in God through Christ and the Holy Spirit and you when the time comes be well rewarded by the God whom you love. Be patient and do not give up that is what the evil one wants you to do, but God may have plans for you that one day will bear fruit. God has not abandon you it just seems that way and He will not give you more than you can bear and He will also give you the graces to be strong in Him.

 

[ClearWater]

Yes, St Augusitne writes ‘Our hearts are restless, Oh Lord, until they rest in you’
I think he makes a valid point that our emptiness is a longing for God.
Mary.

Me, too. I feel like that all the time.

 

[Hieronymi]

I feel empty inside…does anyone else feel this sometimes?

A Dark Cloud
…Mother Teresa was not alone in her spiritual darkness. In the history of Christian mysticism there have been many accounts of divine darkness. It is an ancient doctrine that God dwells in inaccessible light, a light so blinding that it veils the divine glory in a dark cloud of unknowing. Some of the greatest saints have endured what St. John of the Cross called the dark night of the soul. The dark night of St. Paul of the Cross, an 18th century monk, lasted 45 years. St. John of the Cross saw his dark night of the soul, not as Divine abandonment but as a purgative expression of God’s love. Like Mother Teresa, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Teresa of Avila realized that the agony of doubt and desolation is a way of sharing in Christ’s Passion.
The Interior Cross: Mother Teresa and Her Dark Night of the Soul

 

[Phil_Marinus]

Life,is like building a brick wall… Every day we add one brick…
Each year is one row of bricks… We can’t really know how our brick wall looks until we have several rows, or perhaps a couple dozen, we look at our brick wall ( life )
And we see flaws in it … We see bricks laid the wrong way, which we cannot correct…
We see a couple of really good bits of wall which look great, spoiled by a few crooked bricks
, My friend… Sometimes we make a mess of things…sometimes we feel abandoned …
Sometimes we look at bricks we put down over the last week or two and see mortar over the bricks… But stand back and look over the entire wall, and you will see for yourself,
That it actually looks fine, yes bit messy in parts… But so is everyone else’s …
Your not perfect… But you have such a better wall than you think… Keep faith in Jesus to
Guide you in your brick work… Daily life,and you will be fine.

 

[josie_L]

For the past couple of days, I’ve felt very empty, and somewhat alone, even though I’ve been spending a lot of time with my family, and I’ve had the ability to talk to my best friend more now than I have been able to in the past few weeks. I don’t feel like I’m drifting away from God, or from my faith. Yet the emptiness is still there, lingering, and it’s just not going away. I don’t know what I should do. Has anyone felt like this before, or have any suggestions on things that might help?

Thank you all. God Bless!

Don’t let your feelings rule you, i.e., these feelings go away with time, and as one poster has already explained many saints felt as you do now. Persevere. Here’s a song that I think will help soothe your soul:

youtube.com/watch?v=vZjjLYa8o4I

 

[rebeccanew]

With all the beautiful responses to the OP, all I can add is that prayers said during a period of emptiness are more powerful than we could imagine.

 

[thequietsinger]

The quietsinger: Remember all of the saints have felt emptiness inside, what we Carmelites call the dark night of the soul. Often God does this to prepare one to become more deeply in union with Him. Prayer and the faith that God is always present even when He is not felt. St. Theresa of Calcutta went almost through life with darkness and emptiness but continued to pray. She you might remember cared for the poorest of the poor those none cared for or wanted; to see the face of Christ in each and everyone… I have been there ,the emptiness to feel adandoned by God. Put you trust in God through Christ and the Holy Spirit and you when the time comes be well rewarded by the God whom you love. Be patient and do not give up that is what the evil one wants you to do, but God may have plans for you that one day will bear fruit. God has not abandon you it just seems that way and He will not give you more than you can bear and He will also give you the graces to be strong in Him.

Thank you for your answer, and for reminding about the Saints. I forgot about St. Theresa of Calcutta, and the spiritual darkness she went through. The only thing that troubles me is that I don’t feel as though God has abandoned me. I know it makes no sense to feel empty inside and close to God at the same time, yet I do.

 

[thequietsinger]

Yes, I think we all feel that way sometimes. I think it’s important to continue to pray, even while feeling empty. Go to Mass, go to Confession.

I have felt ‘empty’ inside and think that my prayers are meaningless when I do. They aren’t. I will try to pray (even though it feels more like ‘reciting’) the Rosary. I’m blessed to have many Masses to choose from, as well as parishes, that if I need to, I can go almost any time of the day.

I pray that you are able to fill that emptiness with the Love of Jesus Christ our Lord. Do NOT despair.

Thank you so much for your answer. I will continue to pray, as I know it is important to be close to Him when we face different roadblocks.

Yes, St Augusitne writes ‘Our hearts are restless, Oh Lord, until they rest in you’
I think he makes a valid point that our emptiness is a longing for God.
Mary.

That is very, very true. Thank you for saying that.

 

[thequietsinger]

Often that happens when Christmas is over and the seasonal blahs come in. And quite frankly, some people always feel that way. Like me. There are some prayers that help me. I have always received grace from praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Always. Give it a shot.

I will pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet twice each day instead of once. Maybe it will help me more if I pray it both at 3am and 3pm, as I am usually awake for both times. Thank you for your suggestion!

 

[thequietsinger]

You are not alone. This emptiness could be part of God preparing you for something different in your life and a way of strengthening your Faith in Him. It does happen to all of us. Keep praying, and if you have the opportunity seek some spiritual guidance from a good confessor. There are a number of Saints that discuss this in their lives. You might try looking for the writings of St. John of the Cross and St. Theresa. (The Story of a Soul.)

I never really thought of that before. I will definitely look and see if I can find their writings online. Unfortunately I am unable to go to Confession as of yet, but once I am able to make my Profession of Faith, it will be the first thing I do. Thank you so much!

 

[thequietsinger]

I feel like that sometimes me too.

I think it is because God want to strenthen our faith in Him and to test us how much we love Him.

We should be attached to God Himself, not to the joy that He brings us sometimes because He can retire it at anytime.

Continue to pray!

I most certainly will, and thank you!

 

[oldgraymare2]

Hi thequietsinger,

You are not alone. I think that all of us go through these periods.

I agree in that I think it is where God is actually calling us to be closer to Him. No matter how you feel, just keep praying. Keep persevering. You will come out of it.

I went through a phase of what we would call “spiritual dryness” many years ago. I remember having a hard time praying. It was a really difficult time. It lasted for a little while, and then I came through it.

I kept trying my best to pray and I kept on going to Adoration, too.

 

[thequietsinger]

A Dark Cloud
…Mother Teresa was not alone in her spiritual darkness. In the history of Christian mysticism there have been many accounts of divine darkness. It is an ancient doctrine that God dwells in inaccessible light, a light so blinding that it veils the divine glory in a dark cloud of unknowing. Some of the greatest saints have endured what St. John of the Cross called the dark night of the soul. The dark night of St. Paul of the Cross, an 18th century monk, lasted 45 years. St. John of the Cross saw his dark night of the soul, not as Divine abandonment but as a purgative expression of God’s love. Like Mother Teresa, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Teresa of Avila realized that the agony of doubt and desolation is a way of sharing in Christ’s Passion.
The Interior Cross: Mother Teresa and Her Dark Night of the Soul

Thank you very much for the link. I will read through the material given, and give the ebook a shot, as well.

 

[thequietsinger]

Life,is like building a brick wall… Every day we add one brick…
Each year is one row of bricks… We can’t really know how our brick wall looks until we have several rows, or perhaps a couple dozen, we look at our brick wall ( life )
And we see flaws in it … We see bricks laid the wrong way, which we cannot correct…
We see a couple of really good bits of wall which look great, spoiled by a few crooked bricks
, My friend… Sometimes we make a mess of things…sometimes we feel abandoned …
Sometimes we look at bricks we put down over the last week or two and see mortar over the bricks… But stand back and look over the entire wall, and you will see for yourself,
That it actually looks fine, yes bit messy in parts… But so is everyone else’s …
Your not perfect… But you have such a better wall than you think… Keep faith in Jesus to
Guide you in your brick work… Daily life,and you will be fine.

Thank you so much! What you’ve said is very true. I won’t ever lose my faith in Him, as He is only good.