Hearing His Voice #218

Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word.

Matthew 15:23

A Gentile woman was pleading with Jesus to deliver her daughter from demonic torment, so much so that the disciples were bothered and wanted Him to make her stop begging. Jesus surprisingly responded to her by not responding. In her time of desperate need, He didn’t say a word. Why? We know it wasn’t because He was unwilling because a few verses later, after her persistence, He commended her for her great faith and delivered her daughter. It wasn’t because of any lack of mercy or compassion because He demonstrated gentle and extravagant love on so many other occasions. His silence at first was no reflection of His unwillingness to help or a coldhearted nature. Apparently, the delay offered some benefit to the woman or to the onlookers. It prompted her to draw closer. In the end, her persistence proved her faith.

When we ask to hear God’s voice and then don’t, it isn’t because He is reluctant or unmerciful. Many people walk away at this point, assuming they are wrong for expecting to hear Him clearly. But perhaps He wants our persistence to prove our hunger. Or more likely, maybe His silence is intended to provoke movement in us. When we don’t hear from Him, it isn’t a snub. It’s an invitation to come closer.

Sometimes that’s a frustrating invitation, but it’s only in the frustration that we persist in exploring deeper nuances of His character and His ways. Many Christian thinkers have discovered profound insights in the midst of an uncomfortable or even painful search for God’s will. We tend to learn from Him only what we need in a given moment, and if that process is brief, our knowledge of Him remains superficial. But when we have to keep asking and keep searching, we dive deeper into His depths. And when He eventually speaks, we find that we know Him better than we did before.

Jesus, my hunger for Your voice is enough to make me persist through Your silences. Please draw me closer in these times. Let me discover the depths of Your nature when I’m searching and waiting for Your response.