Persist In The Silence

Will You do nothing after seeing these things, O Lord? Will You keep quiet and make us suffer even more?

Isaiah 64:12 nlv

Sometimes God seems silent. We find ourselves in a trial and feel we’ve done everything we’re supposed to do, yet when we cry out to God, we hear no answer in return.

In the book of Job we read about a man whose life was disrupted by a series of tragedies. Job went to God, cried out, and asked for an explanation. He kept asking for thirty-seven chapters.

Some of us can relate. We have asked God for any number of things, but he doesn’t seem to hear us. We might think he is ignoring us, and we wonder why. Maybe our requests don’t seem at all extravagant. Maybe they’re practical—a financial need, an employment need, a need for healing. Why would God be silent for those types of requests? If we are not careful, we can start to doubt God can and will provide or that there is a God. How can we avoid those traps? Some suggestions:

• Look inward. What is my motive for making this request? Is there anything or any person I want more than I want God?
• Accept that God is sovereign. God does not owe us an explanation.
• Listen for God. Has he already answered? Maybe we did not hear him or like his response.
• Keep asking, but do so with a surrendered heart. Job was persistent, and God honored his honest questioning.

God has been in control, continues to be in control, and will always be in control. He heard Job each time Job asked for help. He hears us every time we ask for help. We can trust him even when he is silent.

Our lives are not our own. Therefore, we must accept God’s will regardless of how it feels. If God is silent, there is a reason. If no signs from heaven are available, know and understand that there is a very good reason for this also.

Kellie Lane

The instructor is always silent when the test is given. ... When God is silent in your life ... you are being tested.

Rick Warren

I believe that God is in me as the sun is in the colour and fragrance of a flower—the Light in my darkness, the Voice in my silence.

Helen Keller

For Further Reflection

Psalm 28:1; Psalm 46:10; Jeremiah 29:11

Today’s Prayer

Merciful Father, I want to be relieved of depression and everything that comes with it. I know that one day I will be healed, but while I am waiting, please be near me in my weakness. Fill me with joy and peace that I know only comes from you. Amen.