She sits alone in her room—dark circles under her eyes, tears running down her cheeks. Since her teenage years, God has been her fulfillment, but her heart still has gaps—empty places, hollow spaces, unmet longings. And she has prayed, oh how she has prayed for God to give her the desires of her heart. Or to take them away. One or the other. But neither has happened. Ten long years of waiting. “How long will you forget me?” she whispers. “Forever?”
We may celebrate the goodness of God during times of answered prayer and unexpected blessing, but sooner or later, we all face the silence of God. Israel did (1 Samuel 3:1). Job did (Job 23:1-9). Asaph did—crying to God all night without answer (Psalm 77:1-9). “Why do you hide when I am in trouble?” David prayed (Psalm 10:1). “Do not turn a deaf ear to me,” he demanded (Psalm 28:1). “How long must I struggle with . . . sorrow in my heart every day?” he cried. “Turn and answer me” (Psalm 13:2-3). Even Jesus experienced the deathly silence of the Father (Matthew 27:46).
What is God doing during His silence? Preparing the answer to our request? Maybe. Testing the depth of our devotion? Perhaps. Developing our character? Undoubtedly. Christian martyrs of old were sawn in two out of devotion to Jesus. Why shouldn’t we endure a little pain as we mature? Sometimes, however, we may never know why God is keeping quiet.
Thankfully, God does break His silence. He spoke to Israel (1 Samuel 3:4-14) and Job (Job 38:1-41); the morning finally dawned for Asaph (Psalm 77:11-20) and David (Psalm 28:6-9); the silence of Good Friday was followed by the shout of Easter (Matthew 28:1-20).
But, until she hears from God, that girl—representing so many others—sits in her room alone. Or is she?
More:
Read Psalm 5:1-3. What posture does David suggest we take in the midst of God’s silence? How might Luke 18:6-8 provide encouragement as we wait?
Next:
Recall a period of God’s silence in your life. How did you grow through it? How can you help others who are experiencing the silence of God? How will you be God’s comfort as they wait?
lecinlas on February 16, 2011 at 2:13 am
I saw this on a friend’s wall on Facebook during that time when I felt God’s silence.
“when God is seemingly absent and quiet in the midst of our sufferings, He is actually present. He is suffering with us. that’s how powerful His presence is.”
Isn’t it amazing how He can use His silence to declare His presence?
sheridan voysey on February 16, 2011 at 5:31 am
A beautiful thought, lecinlas. God’s silence may be because He is suffering with us and there no words yet right to share.
eppistle on February 16, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Is God ever truly silent? Psalm 19 indicates that He faithfully speaks to us through nature and through the Bible. Or is that He speaks to us and that we just don’t hear? I’m not saying that it’s always because of sin that we feel like He’s being silent. Maybe it’s because of tragedy, a chemical imbalance or even the weather. But by an act of faith, we can believe that He is speaking to us even when we are deaf. Would it be more theologically correct to talk about the deafness of man rather than the silence of God?
sheridan voysey on February 16, 2011 at 7:29 pm
Hi eppistle.
Yes, God certainly speaks to us through creation (Psalm 19; Romans 1:8 etc) and through Scripture. I think the passages above, though, are clear that the experience of God’s silence *on a particular matter* is an experience shared throughout biblical history. (None of the passages above indicate that, really, God was speaking and the people involved weren’t listening.)
Theologically, I think it fits that the soverign God can choose to speak, or remain silent, when He wants to. That doesn’t mean it’s easy for us though!
God’s silence on a particular matter, thankfully, doesn’t mean His absence of His lack of care. He’s present. And still speaking on other matters through Scripture and creation.
eppistle on February 16, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Or maybe He’s never silent about somethings, but He remains silent about what is particularly on our hearts.
Clarence Wong on February 17, 2011 at 11:01 am
At times God choose to be silent and He has his purpose.Thru these years as a follower of Christ, many a time God has seems silent to me, yet years down the road, when all the pieces of the puzzle come together, I finally began to understand the decisions and situations that He put me in. You know what, our God is indeed a great God. And He has His plans for us. Plans to prosper & not to harm. Trust in Him, tho’ at times it hurts and we may not understand. yet trust in Him. Surrender to Him. The Lord will have His ways in us.
Rell on February 16, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Thats good, but no she is not alone, sometimes a Christans God just want to see if he can trust us with the small stuff. he likes too see how much faith we have in him too see how long we are willing to wait for him to show up and show out!
daisymarygoldr on February 16, 2011 at 4:32 pm
I agree she is not alone. But just like her in my past, I had cried out to God only to be subjected to His silent treatment. At least that is what I had concluded in my ignorance. I had thought He had given up on me. Or maybe He was mad at me for having done something against His will. In my immaturity I misunderstood God’s silence. Especially at a time when I had desperately wanted Him to do or say something in response to my agony.
It was only in retrospect I knew why He was silent. The teacher is always silent during the test. God thoroughly prepares me for the test by giving me all the answers in His Word. Silence is God’s vote of confidence that I will not only finish well but will surely excel to succeed in my test—just like the way Jesus did.
Job did not have the scriptures back then. Today I have the written word of God which has all the answers. Now, I know why He was seemingly silent. He did not destroy those who did evil to me because He is patient and wants them to be saved. He did not give me a spouse because we were not ready for one another. He did not heal my sickness because His grace is sufficient for me.
Silence is more expressive than speech. And silence of God speaks volumes. All I have to do is just hush up and listen. When we are in love, silence is a sign of intimacy.
Oswald Chambers in My Utmost For His Highest, says: “When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible—with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation.”
After learning from God’s silence, Asaph reminds us, “Our God…is not silent.” (Ps 50: 3).
sheridan voysey on February 16, 2011 at 7:32 pm
Wow, what seasoned wisdom daisymarygoldr. Wisdom gained obviously through walking with God through pain.
JulieA on February 16, 2011 at 9:33 pm
Wow…I agree…………
You helped me more than you can imagine tonight..I am really struggling with financial issues…I needed to know why God has seemed silent…Maybe he’s just trusting us to succeed…..
Thanks daisymarygoldr 🙂
Irene_Ukraine on February 25, 2011 at 3:42 am
wow!..
been reading ODJ for a year, and registered just to say it 🙂
wow. thanks!
tom felten on February 25, 2011 at 9:30 am
Irene_Ukraine, it’s great to have you in the ODJ community!
sheridan voysey on March 3, 2011 at 4:22 am
Yes, welcome Irene! Thanks for inputting after reading for so long.
pri1465 on February 16, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Thank you for this message.
I too have had God’s Silence in periods of my life and from those I have come to realise that
1. God’s Time is the Best time. (Even though I tend to want answers at once.)
2. God knows best and He always gives us what we NEED and N|OT what we WANT.
I had a situatio a few years ago where I took to running my husbands factory. I am a programmer not an engineer and the subject of manufacturing with metal was new to me. I employed engineer after engineer but none of them worked out. While all this was going on the work had to go on to and some one had to give the quotations. I used to do the quotes till late at night. While doing them I used to cry to God saying “I just cant do this please please give me a good engineer for the factory.” but I never got any one. Little by little the quotes became easier to do and one day while I was driving home God said to me “Now do you see why I didn’t give you an engineer. If you had one you would not have learnt all this. Now you can do it.” From this I have learnt that God, my Heavenly Father always knows best and He always gives us what we need to do the job (in this case I had very good worker who taught me everything and good and trustworthy clerical staff) not what we want. So in any sitauation I do my best and leave the rest to God.
Like when there was no work in the factory. We used to do maintenance on the machines and prepare for the work that God was going to send us and He always did!
sheridan voysey on February 16, 2011 at 11:33 pm
Thanks for the story pri1465. It strikes me that time is such a key component with the experience of God’s ‘silence’. God often gives a reason for the silence in time. So, I guess patience is a virtue He develops as we wait. And in your case, a few new skills were learnt too!
clancy on February 24, 2011 at 3:49 pm
I ‘ve read the wonderful words , but i am in this stage , it is realy hard ….. I’m waiting God …. pray for me
sunny_gemini on April 1, 2011 at 7:13 am
Dear Clancy
Praying for you.
Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”
Heb 13:5
sowharvest on February 16, 2011 at 2:48 pm
I took have been praying & shouting & crying out with no response. This devotional was a word of encouragement because I feel so much like the psalmist in Ps. 13.. How long LORD?.. The message for me has been just don’t stop BELIEVING. I’ll pray for you. GOD Bless.
sheridan voysey on February 16, 2011 at 6:41 pm
And I’ll pray for you both. Thanks for sharing.