3 Ways to Return to God When Life No Longer Feels Like Home

You can feel homesick inside your own home.

When I first realized my mother needed more support, I began visiting her for a few months each year and staying in her spare room. What began as a few months quickly became most months.

Living with Mama always felt like home, while returning to my condo felt less like home and more like an Airbnb—a place I visited. One day, I found myself homesick for my mother’s house while staying in mine.

For me, physical homesickness rarely arrives alone. It’s often accompanied by spiritual homesickness. When I feel far from home, I usually feel far from God, too.

You may know exactly what that feels like. Your body, relationships, job, home, or life once felt like home. Then something changed, and now it doesn’t. In that kind of change, God can feel distant, too.

If you’re wondering how to return to God when life no longer feels like home, here are three ways that help me.

3 Ways to Return to God

1. Name where you are.

Psalm 137:4 says, “How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a pagan land?”

Exile has a location. Your feelings have names, too. Say yours out loud. If you aren’t sure of the names, describe how you feel to God in prayer.

Once I acknowledged my spiritual homesickness, I could begin to address it. More importantly, I could start spending more time at home—in His presence, praying, studying the Word, and at church. Whatever spending more time at your spiritual home looks like for you, do it.

2. Pick up one old practice, imperfectly.

After Reggie died, I didn’t understand what God was doing in my life, so I didn’t know how to pray for myself. But I still prayed, just exclusively for others. I lifted up every prayer request.

Praying for others and focusing on their circumstances helped me put my own in perspective. It was how I connected with God in the only way that felt authentic in that season.

Your turn. Take ten minutes. Set a timer if you have to, and try to connect with the Lord in a way that feels familiar, even comfortable. Then extend yourself grace.

God does. He isn’t legalistic. He cares more about the position of your heart when you try than the clock. He’s not Santa checking off a list. He’s your Heavenly Father, who loves you whether you’re “naughty” or nice.

3. Pick up one new practice, imperfectly.

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Before my mother fractured her pelvis, my daily devotions began with the Bible Recap, listening to Scripture chronologically. After she fell, I struggled to keep up.

Without knowing that about me, a new friend shared the Sing app with me. Because it had such a profound impact on her time with the Lord, she volunteered it out of the blue one day.

I gave it a try, and the rest is history. Adding worship music, like Mighty to Save, Heart of Worship, and Agnus Dei, was the jumpstart my spiritual life needed. The songs rekindled the joy of worship in me.

If an old practice isn’t working, set a timer for ten minutes and try a new one. Again, extend yourself grace. The goal is presence, not performance.

Psalm 90:1 says, “Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!” (NLT).

Long before my condo felt like an Airbnb, and long before Mama’s spare room felt like home, God was my dwelling place. He still is. He was your home before life changed, too, and He hasn’t moved.

Go back to what you named at the beginning. Maybe you feel lonely, displaced, tired, angry, or unsure of who you are now. Bring that exact place to Him.

Returning may begin with an old prayer, a new worship song, ten quiet minutes, or one honest sentence. You don’t have to recreate the way home used to feel. Meet God in the life you have now.

If you’re wondering how to return to God when life no longer feels like home, begin where you are today.

Choose one of these three practices and try it this week to begin returning to God.