We all have times in our life where it can feel like God is silent. Where we can’t hear his voice or figure out which direction we are even pointed in. And is it just me or are they always the times in our life when it feels like we most need to hear God’s voice?
Often it’s times when everything is changing all at once and we just want a little direction from God to help us navigate the change. Or times when nothing seems to be happening at all and we are getting restless and need some indication from God that it’s all heading somewhere. Or times when we have been praying and praying and PRAYING into a certain situation and we are seeing no breakthrough whatsoever.
In times like this we can often find ourselves wondering whether God is even listening. And even sometimes whether he even cares.
But the truth is that even when we find ourselves in times like this, God has promised that he will never leave us or let us down, and God’s promises are always yes and Amen – they cannot be undone. He always listens, he always hears and he always cares. So why does it sometimes (or if we’re being real, often) feel like he has gone silent?
I don’t claim to have all the answers to this and I’m sure that God has many reasons for when and how he chooses and doesn’t choose to speak to his children. However, I do believe that one effect of the silence is that it leads to a greater sense of desire to hear from God.
Think about it…
- Why is it that seeing the sun finally after a long, miserable winter is so satisfying?
- Why is it that the anticipation of a birthday celebration is often so much more satisfying than the actual event?
- Why is it that a glass of water when we wake up after a Chinese takeaway is so much more refreshing than the one we had the previous day?
It’s because the absence of something increases our want and, in the case of the water, our need of that something. Without leads to wanting. Denial increases desire. Deprivation results in desperation. It is through the silence that we desire, want, despair to hear God’s voice more. And it is in this process that we are being driven to seeking him, taught how to hear his voice and developed to become more like him.
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 NIV
We should remember that through the trials God is refining us and making us better versions of ourselves, ready to receive the best that is to come. And the truth is that he will break the silence. The time will come when he will speak, he will answer. And when he does we will be ready to listen. Trials don’t last forever, but if our perspective in them remains Godly the lessons we learn are eternal.
“He is committed to making you holy, even if it means taking away your happiness for a time” John MacArthur
Thank you God that you never leave us or abandon us.
Help me to pursue your still, small voice more and more, not only in the times where you are silent but always.
Help me to remember that through trials you are refining me and making me a better version of myself, ready to receive the best that is to come.
Align my desires with yours, so that I may live out your plans, not mine, every day of my life.
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