Where do you go when God feels distant—even though everyone says He’s “with you”?

In this honest episode of the Collide Podcast, we sit down with Pastor Bob Marvel to talk about the deeply personal and sometimes confusing reality of Immanuel—God with us. Bob shares about seasons when God felt hard to sense, dismantling the myth that pastors have a “fast pass” to God. Through stories, theology, and lived experience, he offers insight on God’s nearness, spiritual dryness, false assumptions about faith, and how to meet God where you actually are—not where you think you should be. Whether you’re longing for God, walking through doubt, or feeling spiritually hungry, this episode will remind you that God has not moved—and He is closer than you think.

Meet Pastor Bob Marvel

Pastor Bob Marvel has served as Senior Pastor of Cornwall Church for nearly 30 years and comes from a third-generation ministry family. A passionate teacher and shepherd, Bob has helped shape countless lives through his honest, Scripture-rooted approach to faith. His life and leadership reflect a deep love for Jesus, the local church, and helping people encounter a God who is truly present.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn

• Why God can feel distant even when Scripture promises He is near
• The myths we believe about who God is “with”—and who He isn’t
• Why pastors don’t have a closer connection to God than anyone else
• How Jesus revealed God’s nearness to the overlooked and unlikely
• Where to look for God when you feel spiritually dry or desperate
• Practical ways to move toward God when you don’t even know where to start

How This Episode Will Encourage You

If you’ve ever felt like God must be disappointed in you, far from you, or accessible to everyone but you, this episode will gently reframe everything you think you know about His presence. You’ll be reminded that God does not wait for you to get it together—He draws near right where you are, offering love, hope, and Himself.

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Welcome to the Collide Podcast. We're a growing community of everyday gals colliding with Jesus in our mess, our pain, our joy, and our stories. We value showing up as we truly are.

So that's what you'll find here. Walls and masks being torn down so that we can allow Jesus to meet us where we truly are and hear about other women doing the same.

We can't wait to collide with you.

So this. Yeah, he'll be with me if he'll be with me. Because I think we need to cut those words off and just say, God is with us.

Welcome to the Collide Podcast. I'm Willow Weston, the founder and director of Collide, and I'm super excited today because I'm having Pastor Bob Marvel on the pod today.

And this man has huge impact on so many people's lives. But on my life personally, he's one of the big reasons why I went into ministry.

He fully inspired and cheerleaded me to say yes to God's call on my life. And I interned at the church that he pastors. And so I'm super excited that you guys get to sit with him, hear from him and learn from him today.

He's been the senior pastor of Cornwall Church in the Pacific Northwest in Bellingham, Washington for almost 30 years. He's a third generation preacher, following in the steps of his father and paternal grandmother.

His his mother's an ordained minister, his brother's a pastor, his sister's a preacher. So you could say ministry runs in the family.

And Bob is married to his best friend Doreen of 21 years, and they have two daughters, Amanda and Alyssa.

Bob loves adventure travel, snowboarding, running, riding motorcycles, working in his yard, and he's obsessed with In N Out burgers, specifically the double double animal style. So you might have a lot of things in common with him. Bob, thank you so much for hanging out with us today.

Oh, Willow, what an honor and a privilege to be able to be here with you and just so excited about what you're doing, what God's doing through you and Collide and the thousands and thousands of women's lives who are being impacted by the ministry. So just praising God for that and rejoicing with you in that. It is an honor to be here today.

Well, you know, when I rewind back to years and years ago, when I first came to Jesus and learned about who he is from you. So, so much has changed over the years.

And I wanted to have you, you come on today and be able to talk about this idea of God being with us. I've heard you talk about it for so many years, and it shaped me and, and how I think of Jesus.

And so I think as much as you bless me, you're going to bless everyone listening today. So I just want to hop in and start talking about that.

Yeah, nothing better.

Okay, well, so we talk about this idea of God with us, Immanuel, and yet so often people feel like he's nowhere to be found. Why do you think that is.

Boy? There's probably a lot of reasons for that, and I apologize. Maybe I'll start off with just an academic detail in that question.

People feel like he's nowhere to be found. And again, sometimes we go more on our feelings than on fact. So I think that's an issue.

I think there's also some misunderstandings about, well, if God is with me, then surely I shouldn't have any problems. Surely I should have this life in all of its fullness that Jesus promised and the blessings and the joy. And that's all true.

But I think maybe we make this assumption that if God is with me, then life is always going to be great and easy and every prayer will be answered and everything is going to be wonderful.

And yet the reality is, I think it's because our life is so difficult, because we live in a fallen, broken world where there's harsh hardships and difficulties and disappointments, that we need a God who's with us. Think about Joseph when he's in prison. He's been sold by his brothers, he's been wrongly accused by a woman, and then he's in prison.

And the Bible says, and the Lord was with him. And you think, oh, wait a second, you know, how can the Lord be with him? All these bad things have happened to him, but the Lord was with him.

And two or three times in that story it says, and the Lord was with him, probably Joseph is probably saying, hey, Lord, don't be with me anymore. If this is the result, go be with my brothers. Let them have some of that for a while. But it's in our hardships that God is with us.

That very, very familiar Psalm 23. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because you are with me.

If you let me give you not just a biblical, but a personal example. I ran into a woman last week at the store. She goes to our church. She hasn't been able to come in the last couple of years because of the COVID stuff.

She's an elderly woman. She's in her 80s. She and her husband have been married for over 60 years. And she just hugged me, said, it's so good to see you.

She's been watching online. She gave me an update. Her husband has Alzheimer's now. They had to move out of their home that they built years and years ago.

They're living in assisted living. Her husband deals with anger in his Alzheimer's. And she was just telling me all this.

And at the end of it, she said, God has been so good to me, and he's with me every day, and he blesses me, and I couldn't make it through without him. And to me, that was like, wow, that's the Emanuel, the real life in the trenches. God is with me in the hardships and the hard times.

So I know I'm going way off on some stuff, but I think maybe one of the reasons that we think he's nowhere to be found or we feel like he's nowhere to be found is that we have an unrealistic expectation of what that means to have God with us.

Absolutely. And I want to talk more about that, because I think it's so prevalent to how a lot of people feel.

They sort of measure God is with me when things are going well. I don't think God is with me. Things aren't. Are. Are going well at all. And there is a misunderstanding. I'm curious, though. You're a pastor.

I mean, technically, you get paid to tell people that God is alive and well, that he's with them. And I'm just curious if you've experienced a moment or a season or a circumstance where you couldn't sense God near.

Yeah. The answer is yes. And in not just a moment, not just a season, there. There have been times.

There was a. Interestingly enough, there was a Saturday night. I specifically remember so well because it was the Saturday night before Easter Sunday, arguably the top one or two weekends for a pastor.

And I was dealing with overwhelming doubt. This, like, how could I not know? How can this be true? I mean, how.

How could there really be a God of the universe who became a man and came back from the dead? And I got to get up the next morning and preach the resurrection of Jesus. And I'm struggling with my own doubts.

And that night I'm praying like, God, I want to believe, but right now I am just struggling with this. You talk about being in a rough place when that's where you're just racked with questions of is any of this even real?

And yet there's going to be thousands of people the next day coming to hear me tell them about the hope of the resurrection. And just. I remember that night just feeling like, God, I'm going to go on faith.

You know, I don't have a lot of it right now, but I'm going to go as if this is true. Because right now it just doesn't feel like it. I don't. I don't believe it. So, I mean, there. That. I mean, that was a. That was a tough deal.

There have been times in my life when I've gone through some real, real struggles, some family issues, personally or other family members. There have been times where it seems like God is just quiet, like, I'm praying, I'm seeking his will. I'm trying to find out what he would have.

And just wondering, God, do you hear my prayers? And do you care? You know, are you even. Are you even, you know, listening? Are you around at all? And someone years ago gave me a book.

I think it's called the North Face of God by Ken Guyer. I want to be careful because it's been a few years ago since I read it.

But the whole concept of the North Face of God, if you're familiar, if you're in the northern hemisphere, that the sun is usually on the south side.

And the whole idea of the North Face of God is, what about those chilling times when the wind is blowing, it's cold, and it doesn't seem like God's there? And how do we continue to walk in faith when it seems like that he's not there? And so there's definitely been seasons.

I mean, I'll throw this out and maybe this gives some encouragement to somebody. Jesus himself on the cross says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Me?

I'm sure in the garden, when he's praying the night before, you know, he's crucified, he's just like, God, is there any other way? And. So I think if there's ever a time that you. Are having a struggle sensing God's presence. You're not alone.

I mean, men and women throughout history, throughout scripture and Jesus himself, you bring up the cross.

And I think what's interesting, because you talked about people's misunderstandings, and I think we think God with us equals, not suffering. And then we look at Jesus Christ's life and his suffering, and even I think of Isaiah 53, which we talk a lot around here about.

By his wounds we are healed. That actually healing and wholeness and redemption come on the other side of suffering. They come through suffering.

And so it's so strange to me that we have this. Misconception that God being with you equals no suffering.

Right, right. And you mentioned Isaiah. Is it, oh, boy, I should have my Bible in front of me.

Is it Isaiah 43 where he says, when you walk through the waters, you know, when you walk through the fire, you know all these things and still I will be with you, you know, call you by name. He doesn't say there won't be, you know, difficulties or wounds or high waters or fire, but he's promised to be with us in the midst of it all.

That's really good. I don't know if it's Isaiah 43. I mean, you're my pastor, Bob. I mean, come on.

I assume that people assume because you're a pastor, you must be kind of more close best buddies, you know, 24 7, fasting and praying tight with Big Man Upstairs. How do you feel about the assumption people make that somehow you are closer to God than they can be?

Wow. Again, I think that comes down to some misunderstandings and maybe two really big misunderstandings. One is about pastors and the other is about God.

This idea that, yeah, pastors are somehow, whatever, more spiritual, more holy and have this connection more so than what is available to anybody else, that that would be a misunderstanding about pastors. And a gross misunderstanding about our God.

And again, if you'll let me be a little bit on the theological side of things, that boy, that misses everything by an entire Testament. That's Old Testament thinking. When Moses was the representative for the people and he went up on the mountain and they didn't.

He had the connection with God and they didn't. When there was a priest in the tabernacle or in the temple, they were the ones that would go into the holy of holies, not the people.

And, you know, the high priest is the only one that would go into that presence of God once a year. And that was all Old Testament. Jesus, Immanuel, God with us changes all that.

And then there's not this separation that we don't have to go through a priest, we don't have to go through Moses, we don't have to go through someone else to get to God who has the better connection that Jesus comes for all of us. And so.

I would say this idea that, yeah, pastors have a connection that is not available to anybody else, I think is a misunderstanding of the whole concept of Immanuel. That's for every single one of us. And I will admit there's some benefits of being a pastor in that I can have time carved out in my day.

I know for many of your listeners, they're up to their ears and dirty diapers and laundry and preparing meals or going to work and getting kids from daycare. I mean, it's tough. And so for that. I do sympathize. I can feel for someone who feels like you, you just get to go pray and read.

Well, there's other things as well, but I am thankful for that time. But God with us is available to every single person.

What are some false ideas that we've sort of been sold around? The idea that God will be with you if. Or God will be with you.

Unless what are some things we've been told like God will be with you if you are this or if you do this, that you want to call out.

That whole concept makes God's presence very conditional, conditional on us. And then that puts us in the driver's seat of determining that. It also can reduce it to a formula.

And formula Christianity or formula spirituality is always going to disappoint. We might like that. We want the hey, do steps one, two and three, and then you're going to get this result.

And if it doesn't happen that way, then there can be doubts. Well, it must be me or discouragement. It didn't work for me.

I don't think that God wants us to have a formula that way or this idea that because of something I did or something that I didn't do, therefore I can't be in God's presence. And that will just push us farther and farther away from the one who came to be with us. So, yeah, I'd like to call that out.

That if you're looking at this whole idea of God will be with me if I caution you with that, because Immanuel is God with us, not God with us if. Or God with us, because it's God with us with that.

I will say part of it is not a condition, but it's the availability and the awareness to be able to carve out some time to be able to be aware in your day to day life that God is with us. And being aware of that in the everyday situations.

If you'll let me go a little bit farther with that, there's a little, tiny little book by Brother Lawrence. It's an old, old book called Practicing the Presence of God. And he was a monk. I don't remember when he was a monk from way back.

And he found this truth is that he could practice being in the very presence of God all the time.

And one of his tasks at the monastery, he was a monk, One of his tasks was that he did dishes in the kitchen for all of these other monks after meals. And he found that he could be in God's presence.

And he said, I can be as, as close to God doing the pots and pans as I am at the altar taking the holy sacrament. Which some would feel like that's sacrilegious, that that's almost like blasphemous. How could you say that?

But it's because God's presence is, is with us all the time. So. So this. Yeah, he'll be with me if. Or he'll be with me. Because I think we need to cut those words off and just say, God is with us.

Absolutely. I read that book years ago and it actually shifted so much of my thinking.

I mean, the idea that a lot of us pray for God to enter the space or enter the room or that we think he's in a church building but not with us at a party on a Friday night. God is everywhere and he's already here. I don't have to ask him to be here. What I need to do is ask. I need to practice.

Opening my eyes looking for Him. I need to wake up to my own awareness, to his presence that's already here. And that was.

That was a huge shift for me spiritually, that actually he's already here. I just need to show up.

Yeah. Yeah.

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I had a. I wasn't planning on talking about this, and I won't go into the detail, but I had a conversation recently with one of my kids. Where there was some. Something really disappointing going on. On. I was disappointed. And.

I, the, one of my kids, the kid that I was disappointed in, what was going on, said, I hope I can still be your kid. And. That really. That was, that was hard to hear. And I realized, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. This isn't about. If you can still be my kid.

You'll always be my kid, and I'll always love you. And that's not in question. But I want to have a conversation with you about some of my concerns.

And I, and I think about that when you talk about this conditional.

Idea that we've been kind of made to think that we can be God's kid if, you know, that he'll be our dad if we do this and if we do this and if we don't do this and we don't do this. And there's something beautiful about the idea that God will be our dad and we're his kid no matter what.

But he might want to have some conversations with us about what he's concerned about. You're inviting us into a relationship where we believe we're loved unconditionally and we're not used to being loved unconditionally.

Right? Absolutely. The. The idea that somehow I'm going to cause God to not love me.

I mean, Willow, you just illustrated that for all of your listeners, if they're a parent, they know they can be disappointed. They can be frustrated, they can be angry with their kids. They still love them. God.

So surpasses our capacity to even love and to love us as his children. Yeah, that doesn't, that doesn't change at all. And, you know, you were talking with your child about something that had disappointed you.

I think when God says, here's some things that, yeah, I don't want, it's not because he's trying to rule our lives in a horrible way. It's because he wants the very best for us. And part of. I think if God's ever disappointed, he's not disappointed with us. He's disappointed for us.

Like, you're, you're not. John Ortberg used that whole idea of disappointment being that we have missed what we were appointed.

We're missing the life that we were appointed to live. To live. And there's that disappointment that God says, I want so much More for you than you even want for yourself.

And he knows, but yeah, he's still our God and he's still our Father.

I love the message version where Eugene Peterson talks about Jesus becoming flesh and blood. God became flesh and blood and moved into the hood.

You know, and I think we've been sold false view that he'll move into your hood and be with you if you clean up your house and you get your act together. And it seems to me when I look at the life of Jesus, he moves into your hood as it is right now.

You look at him showing up to the woman caught in the act of adultery, standing there in nakedness. He didn't wait for her to confess, he didn't wait for her to profess. Like he literally is moving into her life as she is.

We see that with, you know, the man in the tombs who's cutting himself and he's been isolated from community and no Jewish people would enter the tombs. And Jesus does and he enters into his life. And so. What do we do about this?

How do we shift and reframe and realize God will move into our lives as it is right now, rather than thinking, oh yeah, God and I will, you know, come back into relationship when I can get my act together?

Yeah, we, you know, his ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. We have to quit trying to make God just a super sized version of us. We make God in our own image.

And we know that that's maybe how we treat or have been treated, rather than saying, okay, God is different than that, he's bigger than that, he's better than that. Shifting our understanding of who he is. And like you say, looking at those examples of Jesus, read the life of Jesus.

See how he interacted with people who were far from God. And that's the whole reason he came. In Matthew 1, where it says, you know, you'll call him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.

That was the whole reason he came. He came to call the sinners, not the righteous. And that's his whole life. And none of that has changed. He's the same yesterday, today and forever.

So just as he was 2,000 years ago, he is today.

You've spent most of your life in relationship with Jesus, looking at the life of Jesus, studying Jesus and teaching about Jesus. When you think about all you've seen and experience in Jesus, what has you in awe the most?

When you think about this, this God being with you theology, Wow.

I think the, the whole idea of who Am I, you know, with seven point whatever billion people on the Earth, and that's just right now. And you're looking at thousands of years of human history. And. And I'm just this one person. Up in this corner of the United States.

You know, just the scope of it. Who am I that he would even know who I am and care about? And as much. As much as I've failed in sin, that he would even still graciously love me?

That, you know, I think some people say, well, check me out. I must be pretty special. God loves me. I think it says a whole lot more about God than it does about me.

Rather than getting a big head, I get humbled by that whole thing that he would even know who I am, that he would love me. And again, the theological side of this, to me is the infinite nature of God. I think that sometimes we take.

Can I go a little theology on this one, Will?

Yeah, totally.

I think sometimes when we talk about God being eternal and God being infinite, we just kind of meld those together. Like they're the same thing and they are completely different, which is a very beautiful thing.

The eternal nature of God, that He transcends time as we understand it. That's. That the infinite nature of God is His capacity. And it is unlimited. Unlimited capacity.

And so there's a quote by St. Augustine that says that God is able to love each one of us as if there were only one of us to love.

And because he is infinite in his capacity, he can love and focus on me completely without taking his eyes off of anything else that's happening in the universe. He can give his. And this. We. We don't understand this because we're finite.

He can give his full attention to me and to my life and my needs and my concerns and what I'm going through without taking his complete attention off of you or any one of your listeners. And that just. That is one. It expands my understanding of God, but it is so humbling. It's like, wow.

And then when you turn that around and to recognize whose I am, who I am in him, then all of a sudden there's a. There's a confidence. Not because of my performance, but because of who he is and that he would love us that way.

Just listening to you talk, I mean, I don't know why I'm thinking of these words, but it's kind of like, how can that be? And I don't mean that like in a skeptical way. I mean that in a sense of awe. That's.

I don't even know as a human that I can grasp the idea that he would be that attentive to my life. And mostly because a lot of us have never experienced that. You know, I. I didn't have a dad around for the first half of my life.

I, for the most part, I, you know, had a mom who showed up to my games drunk. I mean, on and on.

Like, the idea of having a father who's that attentive, who can love me as if there's no one else and love you as if there's no one else, it's just kind of mind blowing, like, jaw dropping. It does humble you. I'm humbled just listening to you talk about it.

You know, Another illustration of that. And I read this from years ago from a guy from Multnomah School of the Bible.

I can't even remember the name of the book, but he was trying to illustrate that. And he said, if you're.

If you're walking on the beach at night and you look out across the water and the moon is out there and you can see the moon in its fullness and the reflection of it across the water, and that is completely.

You are experiencing all of that, and someone right next to you a foot or 15ft or 150ft away is experiencing that moon and that reflection and all of it completely that it's all directed at to help understand that it's not diminished. Every single one of us can experience that because of his infinite nature.

And Willow, you're absolutely right, because most of us have wounds from parents, from family. Again, along the Christmas theme, one of the prophecies from Isaiah is that he would be the Everlasting Father.

And I know for some people that's a hard concept because one, they wouldn't want an Everlasting Father because of the Father that they did have, or that wasn't the capacity that. Or what they needed, but just that God is that for us. Willie, you remember my dad. And December 7th is the anniversary of his death 14 years ago.

And my dad was. He wasn't perfect. You know that. He was a good dad, but he could not be my everlasting Father. But I do have a heavenly Father who is and who loves me.

Completely.

Yeah, it's. It's really interesting to think. You're giving us a lot to think about.

I've heard you preach on the fascinating fact that when God showed up in the flesh, moved into the hood, and the angels announced his coming, they didn't announce his coming first to the presidents and the kings and the powers that be. But in fact, out in a field to the shepherds. Why is that significant to us?

I love that. Out of. Out of Luke, chapter two. I love the shepherds primarily because the shepherds were seen as kind of outcast.

They weren't socially on the elite side of things economically either. They weren't. In many cases, they weren't even allowed in the temple because they would have been deemed unclean.

And so the fact that the angels would show up to them first, even before the wise men show up here are the common people, which again, is a foreshadowing of what Jesus would do, that he would come to, as you mentioned, the woman who was caught in the act of adultery, the demoniac of the gadarenes, the tax collectors and the prostitutes, Matthew, Zacchaeus, all of these. All of these people, Mary Magdalene. And that he would do that, that he would come to them. And so when you see that as the.

As the foundation of the whole story and his whole ministry and his whole life, that that is showing that he came for broken humanity, for people who don't feel like they fit in. The misfits, the outcast, the marginalized, the ones who are not looked upon as being great. And Jesus said, I. I came for you. And, and I love that.

And it. Because the angel said, this will be good news of great joy for all the people. All the people.

And he's saying, they're saying that to the shepherds who would have felt like, you know, who. Us for us. And, and then there's. Then there's secondary, deeper things that I love about that, that.

That they're shepherds and Jesus, the Lord is my shepherd. It says in Psalm 23, Jesus is the good shepherd. And ultimately they're taking care of these lambs that are going to be sacrificed in the temple.

And Jesus is the Lamb of God. So there's all those deep theological pieces to it as well.

But the primary one is he came from ordinary people like us, fallen people, people who make mistakes, you know, kick ourselves and frustrated with our own lack of whatever spirituality or measuring up. He says that I've come for you.

I love that so much.

And I'm just curious, in your years of ministry, do you have a story that you can share that comes to mind when you reflect on a person who was sure God would have nothing to do with them, who had been made to think he would have nothing to do with them? They were maybe feeling like they were an outcast when it came to Jesus.

And when they Fully grasp this idea you're talking about and realize that God will not only have something to do with them, but he loves them. He would die for them. He wants to walk alongside them in relationship. Have you seen someone fully grasp that?

And when they do, it changes everything for them.

Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Over the years, many opportunities to be able to see God do incredible works in people. There's a.

A very good friend of mine who spent many, many years chasing everything that he thought was what life was about, money and women and had multiple marriages. And he came to Cornwall Church and he was a bit resistant to it all, but he was struck by this whole concept of love.

This is way back in the old days when we still had Sunday night services as well, and he was in a Sunday night service and he had to get up and leave because he found himself getting very emotional. He didn't want to be embarrassed. He was very much about image.

And fought it, struggled with it, and recognized that it was God's life and love for him and that all the things that he had been chasing, boy, when God finally got a hold of his life and he finally did surrender, it changed everything for him. And his words were my whole life. I was chasing hot dogs when God had stake for me. So that was his way of expressing that.

But just, you know, just God's love for us. Will, can I tell another story? And this is something that happened a few weeks ago for me. I was. I was.

My wife and I were going on a Sunday to get some decorations for the fall. This was just a couple, eight weeks ago, and I was in a bad mood. It was at the end of the weekend. I was tired. My favorite football team had lost.

It was rainy. It's getting dark. It's the fall, and we're going to get these, these decorations. And I'm just in a foul mood. And, and so, and.

And because of my foul mood, there was tension between my wife and I in the car, real obvious. And I didn't want to be there. I didn't want to be doing all this. Anyway, long story short, we're going into, into the store. It's rainy, I'm wet.

We get up to the store doors and I'm like, ah, I don't have my mask. For those of you who are outside of Washington, we still, at this point still have to wear a mask to go in most stores.

So I had to walk back in the car. And as I was walking back, I heard this guy singing and I'm like, what in the world?

So I got my mask and it's raining and I recognize that he's singing an old song from the 90s, from your day when you first started coming to Cornwall. Shout to the Lord by Darlene Chet. And he's singing it and just by himself, out in the rain.

Well, as I walk up next to him, I realize I need to be singing this song. And he appears to be a homeless guy. He's drenched, he's clutching an empty 24 ounce ice house can.

So he's been getting kind of some alcohol in his system. And he's singing Shout to the Lord, going around to it on the second tongue. And so I think I need to sing this.

So I start singing as well, because I know I haven't heard it in years, but I know all the words. And so we get there, all of a sudden he hears me singing, and the trajectory of our paths are crossing.

We get to the chorus, here he and I are out there in the parking lot singing Shout to the Lord. Nothing compares to the promise I have in you. And at the end, as we sang this thing, man, it just. I just embraced this guy.

He didn't have a tooth in his head. He's drenched, he's probably homeless. I just embraced him, said, I love you, brother. Now here's the beautiful thing, the contrast.

I have a home, I have a job, I have a car. I have sobriety, I have teeth. I'm a pastor. He's about as opposite of that. But we are both equals in the fact that God came for guys like Him.

And I like these two guys who are broken and fallen. But we both need Jesus and God. You. I don't know what God is doing in his life, but God used him in my life that night.

And it's just this, that God is with us no matter where we are, no matter what we've done, because of who he is and who we are in Him.

That's a beautiful story. I love that so much.

There are people listening right now who are going through a season or a circumstance where they're hungry or despairing of God, and they might be yearning for him, but they don't even know where to start to connect. What's your best advice for them today?

I would say the fact that you long for that is a beautiful thing. That's what God wants. And that comes with a posture of humility.

God has said, I oppose the proud, but I'll give grace to the humble and to come humbly and to ask, you will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with your whole heart, being aware that God is with you. If you question that, I would say doubt your doubts and hold on to the truth. Fill your mind with the truth.

And there's some scriptures we've talked about even in this last half hour or better. There's some others. If you don't have a Bible, I'm sure Collide or your local church can help you get connected with the Word of God.

But to fill your mind with that and. To begin to be aware that God's presence is with you no matter where you are, and to talk with him, to pray with him. He is close. What does it say?

He's close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. And some of you may be feeling that way right now. And God is as close as he can be. And he's walking with you in that.

Bob, thank you so much for hopping on today.

You gave us so much to think about and I love that in the middle of this season when we talk about the Immanuel God being with us, you invited us to know he's already here.

Well, it has been a pleasure to be with you and thank you for the honor of being able to share with the ladies that you. Not just ladies, primarily ladies, but others that are being ministered to with Collide. And God bless you.

Willow, I'm so proud of what you've allowed God to do in your life. And for those of you who are listening, I've known Willow since she was a checker at her grocery store as she mentioned back in the 90s.

And she is the real deal and God is using her tremendously. So God bless you.

And Collide, Bob, thank you so much for pouring into my life all these years and you're leading me on to say yes to God's call. You have impacted Rob and my life and I am forever grateful for that and always will be.

And you continue to do so many amazing things to impact other people's lives. So I'm glad you keep giving God your yes. How can people connect with you and Cornwall and you know, all the things.

All the things. Yeah. Yeah. Cornwallchurch.com Corn like the vegetable and a wall.

So sorry about the name, but cornwallchurch.com we live stream our services on Saturday and Sundays.

There's opportunities to listen to pastor sermons if you'd like to and hope that you are involved in your local church or another church, but would love to have you stop in and visit. And I would say stay connected with Collide. What a great great ministry. You're doing such a good job.

Thank you, Bob. And for those of you listening, keep colliding and know that God, God is with you. He's walking with you through all that you're going through.

He loves you and I love the idea. And I hope you can grasp this week that he is not only eternal but infinite and he can fully love you and be attentive to you.

And I hope that blows your mind this week and that you can bless all those that you collide with. We'll catch you next week. Merry Christmas.

Thanks for tuning in to keep up with us.

You can find us on Instagram at we collide on Facebook as we collide women, and you can also visit our website at wecollide.net to find our blog resources, event information, and more. One last thing. If you enjoyed this episode, would you take a few seconds and leave us a review?

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