Episode 16: Rooted & Recovered - When the High Wears Off

What if God still loves you when you don’t feel it?

In this brutally honest episode of Rooted & Recovered, Dan speaks to the soul that’s tired, dry, and wondering why everything that once felt so alive now feels so silent. The high wore off, not just the drug high. The spiritual high faded too. The worship doesn’t hit the same. The Word feels quiet. The fire is flickering. And you’re left asking: Did I lose something… or is this where real faith begins?

This episode will confront the lie that silence means separation and expose the truth that when the feelings fade, faith is forged. You’re not broken. You’re being rooted.

Key Highlights:

• The lie of dopamine dependency: Why we chase emotion instead of anchoring in truth
• Galatians 6:9 — The grind is sacred
• Psalm 42:5 — Learning to preach to your soul when nothing makes sense
• Why real anointing isn’t loud, it’s consistent
• What to do when the feelings fade but the fight remains

Scriptures Covered:
Galatians 6:9 • Psalm 42:5 • Matthew 28:20 • Hebrews 13:5 • 2 Corinthians 12:9 • Romans 8:28 • Psalm 34:18

Final Truth:
God isn’t building hype. He’s building roots.
If you're still showing up when the high wears off, that's not failure—that’s faith. Every quiet “yes,” every dry prayer, every unnoticed act of obedience, it all counts. You’re not just surviving the silence. You’re being strengthened in it. When the fire fades, keep walking. Because the foundation is being laid brick by brick.

Transcript

0:05

This world doesn't hand out healing. It offers quick fixes, cheap pies and empty promises, but real recovery, it takes roots. Roots that dig deep into truth, into identity, into the unshakeable grace of God. We're not here to sugarcoat the struggle. We've lived it. Addiction, shame, relapse, regret, but we've also seen resurrection. We've seen what has. Happens when broken people get anchored in something real rooted and recovered is more than a podcast. It's a battleground for the soul. A place where scars tell stories, where scripture speaks louder than shame, where freedom isn't just a word. It's a war we win daily. So if you're tired of surface level answers, if you want truth that convicts, hope that heals, and conversations that cut through the noise, you're in the right place. Welcome to Rooted and Recovered.

Dan: 1:12

Welcome to another episode of Rooted and Recovered. I am your host, Dan Pyles, and I'm so thankful that you chose to hang out with me for just a few moments today. The title of today's podcast is When the High Wears Off. Let's talk about something for just a moment. Family that most people won't admit. Whether you have been in recovery, uh, for just a day. If you've been in recovery for 20 years, uh, you've been serving God. You didn't just come down from a drug high, you came down from a spiritual high too. You remember that season, don't you? When you felt God everywhere. Worship lit your soul on fire when every sermon that the preacher preached at you hit different When you're, when you were reading the Bible and it felt like it was written just for you, but now it's dry, it's quiet, it's frustrating. You're praying, you're, you're praying your guts out. But it feels like you're just speaking into the void and maybe just maybe a part of you is wondering, did I mess up? Did God move on? Praying And you feel like, why is God so feel so far away from me right now, but here's the truth, family faith. Faith isn't proven in the fire. It's proven in the silence. You see, it's not measured by what you feel. Faith is measured by what you do when you feel nothing and anybody can believe. When everything feels alive and everything feels good, and you're on that spiritual high and everything's just flowing and it's clicking and and, and everything's just coming to life for you, but real recovery, real faith is forged when the goosebumps are gone and the emotions go flat. If you're in a dry place right now, I want you to hear me. You're not broken, you're not backslidden, you're not forgotten. Right now you're in the middle of the stretch. The place between emotional highs and spiritual roots, and that's exactly family where depth is born. This episode is for that. That person who has ever wondered if God still sees me. If God still hears me, if God still has a plan for me, because guess what? If you're still standing even in the silence, then your faith is more alive than you think. Let's talk about something that, that nobody ever warned us about. Let me rephrase that. They didn't warn me that that there was going to be a crash. After the climb, you see, you get sober and you experience breakthrough. You, you feel God in ways that you've never felt him before. You, you ride that, that, that high of spiritual hunger and, and early momentum, and then all of a sudden it fades. It's not that you don't believe anymore, it, it's not even that you've backslid, you just don't feel it. Come on, man. I know I'm talking to somebody here today. You're just not feeling it. You've been praying and it's quiet. You read the word of God every day and it feels dry. You're going to church, and it just feels like you're a robot and you're going through the motions. It's like everything that once lit your soul on fire is just now flickering. And if you're not careful, family. If we're not careful, we'll start to believe the lie that maybe something's wrong with me, but I want to tell you today, nothing's wrong with you. You're being built not just blessed. You see guys, recovery isn't always exciting, but it's effective. And here's the truth, that saved me. Family. God doesn't build roots in adrenaline. He builds roots in obedience, recovery by design family, it's repetitive, right? You do the next thing right again and again, and again. Even when you don't see results immediately, even when you don't feel the spark. Finley, that's called growth. And if you stay in that process long enough, you'll begin to realize something profound. The power of your healing isn't found in how emotional it feels. It's found in how consistent you remain. See, Galatians six, nine tells us the grind, what I'm talking about today, that, that the grind, the daily grind. When it's, when you, when you're not on fire and it's, it's not screaming at you, the grind is sacred. Listen to what Galatians six, nine. This is Paul. He tells us, let us not grow weary in doing good for in due season. We will reap a harvest. If we do not give up family, that word if is everything, the breakthrough is coming. If you don't quit, the clarity is coming. If you keep showing up, the strength is building. If you stay in the process. You see family, the enemy doesn't need to destroy you. He just wants you discouraged enough to give up. And what does he do? He begins to whisper. You're dry, you're numb. You've lost the fire. But God is saying, keep going. Keep building, keep trusting because the harvest isn't for the hype driven, it's for the faithful. Family. We are addicted to emotion, but God anchors us in his truth. See, in recovery we talk about a thing called dopamine dependency. That that chemical reward system that keeps us chasing those highs, well, here's a twist. We often carry that same dependency into our faith. We think that if the music isn't moving us, then God must not be in the room. If the word's not jumping off the pages at us when we're reading, well, maybe it's just not working. If the group that I'm going to doesn't make me cry, well, maybe I'm just starting to lose a connection. But what if I told you that maturity in Christ is when you stop chasing a feeling and start chasing faithfulness. You see, the enemy wants you emotional, but God wants you grounded. And feelings aren't bad. They're just not your foundation guys. You don't need goosebumps to prove that God is near you need truth. And the truth is he's never left. He's never forsaken you guys, that's brick by brick anointing. You want to know what real anointing looks like? It's not loud. It's not flashy. It's not always dramatic. Guys, sometimes real anointing. It's silent. It looks like getting up early for your quiet time when no one's watching you. It looks like saying no to temptation when no one's praising you. It looks like sponsoring someone in recovery even though your own emotions are shot, being honest about your struggle when it would be so much easier to pretend family, you're laying bricks, even prayers. Feel unanswered lays a brick. Even a meeting you attend when you'd rather stay at home and isolate, lays a brick. every decision to stay rooted in the word of God lays a brick and what you are building. Family, it's unshakeable. Now, you're not backsliding family. You're being rooted, so let's destroy that guilt right now. Just because you don't feel on fire doesn't mean you're going backward. Not all movement. Family is visible. Your healing is deeper. Then your current emotions. Your growth is rooted deeper than your current mood, and your calling is still intact. Even when you feel disconnected, you see God's work in you isn't based on our energy level, it's based on his eternal plan. Guys, we've got to come to this reality that Jesus didn't promise you and I a 24 7 spiritual buzz, but he did promise us this. He promised. He would be with us always, even in the quiet, even in the numb, even in the God, where are you moments? Family. If you're still showing up when the fire is gone, that's faith. If you're still walking, when it doesn't feel rewarding, that's faith. If you're still staying sober, loving others, staying, planting, chasing grace, family. That's faith and faith like that, it moves mountains guys. Recovery isn't about adrenaline. It's about endurance. You're not addicted to God's presence. You're anchored in his promise. You don't need a spiritual high to walk in spiritual power, and God doesn't need you to feel strong. He just needs you to stay faithful. Our scripture focus for today is in the book of Psalms, chapter 42, verse five, and David, the author says, why, listen, listen to this. He, you can, in these words, you can feel, you can just feel the pain and the anguish that David is in. He says, why my soul are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God for I will yet praise him, my savior, and my God. David, the man after God's own heart, the worship leader of Israel, the slayer of Goliath, is having a full on breakdown in this Psalm. Guys, he's not preaching from the mountaintop. He's not riding from a palace. He is crying out from the depths of his soul. And what does he do? He doesn't pretend. He doesn't put on a mask. He doesn't alize his depression. He talks to himself, not out of madness, but out of spiritual necessity. He says, why my soul are you downcast? Put your hope in God. David is doing what many of us have forgotten to do, and that is to preach to our selves. You see, when your mind starts lying, your mouth has to speak truth. David's emotions are spiraling at this portion of the scripture. His soul is downcast. Hi. His mind is disturbed, but instead of sitting in silence, he declares something out loud. I will yet praise him. He doesn't say, if I feel better, I'll praise. He says, I'm choosing praise. Even while I feel broken family, that's not denial. That's spiritual resilience. Guys, this podcast today is for the listener who feels spiritually numb right now. Maybe you've been there, maybe you're going through it right now, or maybe this is something that you're gonna be going into the future. But this, I can promise you when you're, when you start serving God, you will hit those spiritual plateaus and you know what it's like to want to pray, but feel nothing to try to worship. You just feel so numb to sit in those meetings, those church services or the or those Bible studies, and wonder if something's wrong with you. Let me tell you something bold and unfiltered, feeling empty does not mean you've lost your faith. What it does mean, it means your faith is being tested and strengthened. You're not losing ground family. You're learning how to fight in the silence, and sometimes I'm just gonna be real with you. Family. Sometimes you are gonna have to be your own preacher. David models something revolutionary here. He doesn't wait for someone else to rescue him. He doesn't wait for the pastor to give him a word. He doesn't scroll for the perfect Instagram or Facebook quote. He doesn't sit around hoping to feel it again. He speaks to his soul and he reminds himself what is true, and that is to put your hope in God. For I will yet praise him. That little word yet is everything. Family yet means I'm still in it yet means I'm not done yet, means hope is alive even if I don't feel it yet. Family silence doesn't mean separation. See, we confuse God's silence with his absence, but silence can be sacred sometimes family God is building your roots where you used to chase rushes. David had to learn it, and you and I have to learn it Because we're not in this for a seasonal high. We're in this for a sustained walk. So if you're in that dry place right now, preach to your soul. Speak out loud what you know is true. Don't wait for motivation. Move with discipline. Don't wait to feel his presence. Trust his promises that he will never leave you, that he will never forsake you. And above all else yet, I will praise him. Let me ask you a real question. I want you to just, I want you to be honest with yourself. This is a time of spiritual reflection. Are you following Jesus for the feeling or the truth? Let's be real. There was a time when this walk felt electric. You felt God in every song, every sunrise, every sermon. You didn't have to chase after him because his presence felt thick in the room. But then life happened. You woke up one day and that blazing fire is now flickering. Not gone, but just quiet, flickering, and here's the dangerous moment. When the feelings fade, the enemy starts whispering. See, you are faking it. See, you've lost your faith. See, God's done with you. But listen, faith is not a feeling. Faith is trusting the truth. Your emotions go silent. Faith is showing up to the word when you don't feel a single goosebump. Faith is worshiping in the desert. Faith is choosing to pray when heaven seems silent. Family. We've got to build the rhythm before we need the rescue. what rhythm can you build today that will sustain you tomorrow? It's not about religion, family, it's about survival because recovery, healing. Spiritual endurance. They're not built on emotion. They're built on habits, on rhythms, on anchoring your life to truth. That means family get in the word. Even when it feels dry, pray out loud, even when it feels awkward. Show up for the community even when you would rather isolate, speak true to yourself. When lies are louder, those rhythms, family become lifelines when the storm hits. See the feelings. Family are a gift, but the faith is the foundation. Let that settle in your mind deep. The feeling of God's presence. It's a beautiful gift, but it was never meant to be your anchor. Your anchor is who he is, not how you feel. And if you're walking through a season where everything feels dull, everything feels numb, everything feels dry, don't give up. Don't walk away. Don't chase a temporary high to fill a temporary low. Stay grounded in the truth that God hasn't changed. Even when your feelings have, so as I get ready to close today's podcast, I wanna share this with you. The journey of healing and recovery family, they won't always feel thrilling. It won't always be exciting siding, there won't always be fireworks in the, in the sky and, and a, and a choir in your soul. That doesn't mean you're failing. You know what that means? It means you're human because real growth, it's not loud family. It's steady. It's that quiet choice to show up one more day to open your Bible, even when you feel numb, to pray when your words feel empty. To stay in recovery even when the high has worn off. You might be walking through a dry season in your in your life right now, but hear this dry ground still counts as holy ground if God is walking with you on it every. Quiet, yes matters. Every hidden obedience matters. Every uncelebrated step forward matters. You're still here, you're still standing, and that means God's not done. So when the high wears off, family, keep walking. Not because you feel it, but because you believe in it. This isn't about hype. It's about hope, and hope doesn't quit when feelings fade. I'm praying for you family. Thank you for joining me. Until next time, let's stay rooted. Let's stay recovered and let's get to work.

23:47

You are not just surviving. You are becoming, becoming rooted in truth, becoming recovered by grace, and becoming the person God always knew you could be. Thanks for joining us on Rooted in Recovered. If this episode stirred something in you, don't keep it to yourself. Share it, live it, let it take root. We'll see you next time right here where scars become testimonies and hope rises from the ashes.