I think your concluding 4 statements in bold couldn't be better written.  Over and over, for all those reasons, esp. in this crazy world, all "faithful" Christians experience exactly what you have described -- empty and somehow distant from God.  For me, when I sense that lost-without-a-compass feeling, the finding true north again begins when I stop and take the time to intentionally sit in "my" chair and let my eyes/mind select from one or more of my several good devotional or God-centered books or magazines.  Inevitably, honestly, I open to something that speaks so completely to my hungry spirit that I am thrilled with the awareness of how God is always there when I take time to purposefully seek him.  Often I will open up 3 or 4 books and be amazed at how perfectly the particular passages I am reading are exactly what I needed. It doesn't feel like some kind of magic.  It ends up feeling like I just followed my mind and turned the pages to the right place.   And then when I'm done I try not to hurry away to the next job but take the time to just be quiet with God for a while.  It is truly balm for the soul!