O God, do not be silent! Do not be deaf. Do not be quiet, O God. Psalm 83:1 NLT
One of the difficulties of being in a season of silence with God if we are faithfully following is that we feel alone and we don’t understand why this is happening. The first truth in this time is that you are far from alone.
Abraham heard God tell him to take his son as a sacrifice up to Mt. Moriah – but then nothing. Can you imagine how he felt while he faithfully walked up that mountain, likely begging God to speak up and help him understand? But only silence.
Moses heard God’s call to deliver his people from Pharoah’s grip. He obeyed and they saw a string of miracles in the beginning. God’s voice was big and vibrant. However, 40 years later they were still wandering in what must have seemed a maze. They should have been able to cross that desert in a matter of weeks! “God, say something! What is going on?” But only silence.
Job watched his whole life disintegrate and heard continual voices telling him this had to be his fault. The book of Job details his pleas for God to speak to him with answers … but only silence.
Isaiah and Jeremiah were both faithful but unpopular preachers because of the judgment they kept declaring. They wanted some verbal public validation from God. But only silence.
Paul agonized with God for answers and release from suffering, or at least explain it. But only silence.
Jesus Himself cried out from the cross to His Father, “My God! Why have you forsaken me?” But only silence from the heavens.
Many more biblical and other examples of God’s silence are all around them. But fact number two in all of them is that when God was silent, He was working. He had a plan. Every single account ends with God doing something great as people patiently waited. Most significantly, our salvation came because of Jesus’ faithfulness in the silence.
- You don’t know how God is working or what hangs in the balance of your faithfulness in the silence. Never give up.