When Sadness Is God’s Invitation

• By candidasullivan
• August 31, 2025
• No Comments

Do you ever feel sadness or an unexplained emotion, and don’t understand why?

Sometimes it just hits me. An unexplainable sadness that comes out of nowhere. I used to let it bring me down, and go on a doom and gloom spiral of all the worst possible imaginations. I assumed the shift in my mood was preparing me for the worst. You know the feeling I’m talking about, that sense that something bad is about to happen. 

And then one day it occurred to me that perhaps it is not just sadness, but an invitation from God to spend time with Him. Maybe it’s a deep longing of my soul.

Perhaps God wants to talk to me, so He allows me to feel burdened so my heart will seek Him. Therefore, when I feel the shift in my emotions, it triggers me to pray and ask God what I’m feeling and what I need to do. 

I may need to pray for someone else. God might want to show me things or give me answers that my heart has longed for. He may want to write with me or help me create something. 

I spent so much of my life trying to run from this feeling. I took medicine to try to make it go away and tried to ignore it. I would watch TV, read a book, make a call, go shopping, eat, etc. 

Now I get curious about my feelings and emotions and want to know what they are trying to tell me. There is always a reason for it, and when I inquire with God, He will help me to understand things. 

I know it can be hard to sit with the Lord and ask the difficult questions. I know how it feels not to want to hear the truth sometimes. But until we do, we will wallow in our pain. 

God can help us with it all. He can help us accept the truth and change because of it. So often we think God is punishing us for the bad things we’ve done, but the truth is that we punish ourselves by ignoring the Lord and continuing to do the things that don’t align with God. 

The next time you feel the unexplainable sadness, go to God. Sit in the discomfort. On the other side of the discomfort, is what our souls desire. Through God we will find the joy, love, and peace we want to feel. 

I felt sadness and a little anxiety before I started writing this. It was the drawing power of God. He wanted me to get still and listen. He wanted to talk to me, show me things, and write with me. 

On the other side of our difficult emotions is the Lord. I feel His power every time I follow Him. If I obey the call, I find myself in the presence of the Lord. 

James 4:8 KJV

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.