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The Lens Shift: Seeing God. Seeing Ourselves. Clearly. DAY 2

 The Problem with Distance-Based Faith

Here’s the issue with a distance-based framework: it creates a question that never fully goes away —


“Am I close enough?”


And that question produces:

  • pressure 
  • uncertainty 
  • performance 

Because if closeness is something you achieve…
The fear of separation rules the day.


So, people spend years:

  • trying harder
  • doing more
  • staying consistent

Not out of love… but out of fear of drifting.


And most don’t even realize that’s what’s driving it.


Because when distance is the assumption…

Effort becomes the response.


You start measuring things you were never meant to measure.

  • How consistent have I been? 
  • How focused am I? 
  • Am I doing this right? 

And slowly, without noticing, the relationship becomes transactional.


Not intentionally.

But functionally.


You give effort… hoping for closeness in return.


The problem is, that kind of framework never settles.


Even on your best days, there’s still a question mark.

Even when you feel close, there’s a quiet awareness that it might not last.


Because if closeness depends on you… it fluctuates with you.


And that instability creates something subtle, but powerful:


Low-level anxiety that never fully leaves.


But what if the pressure you’ve felt… was never coming from God?


What if it was coming from the false belief that you were further away than you actually are?


Because if the starting point is wrong… the effort will always feel heavier than it should.


And the question “Am I close enough?” will never have a clear answer.


Not because you’re failing… but because the framework itself was never built to resolve it.


And maybe that’s the real tension:

Not that you need to try harder…


But that you’ve been trying to solve a problem that was never actually there.


──────── ✦ ────────


You’re not becoming.
You’re remembering.
— Wag


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