Post by Les Brewer on May 22, 2014 22:40:45 GMT
A Silent God?
Are you in emotional or physical pain or some other kind of distress – worried about your spouse or child, finances, a problem with a friend, an illness, a job loss or some other vexing problem that is troubling you greatly? Perhaps you are a faithful Christian and you have never wavered in your faith, or maybe you see yourself as a Christian with more of a casual commitment; in either case, your dire circumstances have you calling out to God in fervent prayer – waiting for His answer to your predicament.
And you hear - NOTHING!
In fact, the Great Silence seems to fill you up and God’s silent echoes seem to reverberate in almost every corner of your life. In the midst of your greatest trials and suffering, when your cries to God are the loudest – He is suddenly mute. I know, I’ve been to that place and it is an empty, cold, dark cave ringing with doubt and fear!
However, there is a problem with that sense of anomie – God is never silent! He speaks to us in so many ways that it is almost impossible not to hear Him. Sometimes our prayers are so loud that we overwhelm His voice, making it difficult to hear anything other than our own pleadings. With our heads hanging down, our eyes narrowed, and our ears hearing nothing other than our own dark thoughts, we become so self-absorbed in our own misery that we become oblivious to everything around us, even those things that are practically clamoring for our attention.
God does indeed speak to us at all times, in every season and through every difficulty. He whispers, He shouts, prods, cajoles, leads, always listens and speaks to us in myriad ways. Our first task in actually hearing Him is through reverent prayer and our own silence. Pray faithfully, with thanksgiving and then wait in silent reflection, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Sometimes His answer is simply, “While I am working on this to your ultimate benefit and My ultimate glory, wait!”
While we wait, God shows us other ways He speaks to us. Sometimes we must search the bible for His word on the troubles confronting us – the answer is there, He leaves it to us to draw it out. We must be mindful that what we are asking of God may be outside of His glory or will and we may be asking for something that will ultimately prove disastrous for ourselves or others, whether we realize it or not. There are times when, deep down, we know that what we are asking for is contrary to God’s will – His word will reveal that to us. We can find God speaking to us through others – the power of Christian fellowship is not to be overlooked. Confessing our predicament to our true Christian friends puts them to work on our problems, sharing the load. Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms, ”Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19)
One caveat – I have heard many people, including preachers say that the reason God is not responding or speaking to us is due to our unconfessed sin. Respectfully, I must say that is absurd. The Holy Spirit is always there to convict us of our wayward wanderings and while we should never persist in choosing sin over God’s word, he will not abandon us. The bible is replete with God choosing, using and speaking to the worst of sinners – David was an adulterer and murderer (2 Samuel 11:1-27), yet God still spoke to David and continued to use him throughout the remainder of his life. In the New Testament, Paul (then Saul) was a Christian persecutor and murderer (Acts 9:1, Galatians 1:13-14) and yet Jesus spoke directly to him during the famous Road to Damascus conversion (Acts 9:3-9). If you are a Christian, or even a pre-Christian on your way to salvation, the message of the bible is that we are God’s chosen people; you are His child and He will always welcome you back into His loving arms (Luke 15:11-32). Through Christ, we do not have to worry about God rejecting us because of some forgotten, obscure sin, His love is far more powerful than a remote sin we fail to recognize.
Our prayers to God and His benevolence, mercy and grace are not a genie in a bottle to be used at our command, thus we cannot simply expect God to deliver anything we ask. While God has great plans for all of us, His ways can be difficult to understand (Isaiah 55:8). Still, in summary, God is there for you, He listens, He loves, and he ALWAYS answers! Listen to His whispers, watch for His signs, steep yourself in His word and even if your answer does not come in one blinding flash, be assured that He will answer bit by glorious bit, until you cannot help but be awed by His response!
Are you in emotional or physical pain or some other kind of distress – worried about your spouse or child, finances, a problem with a friend, an illness, a job loss or some other vexing problem that is troubling you greatly? Perhaps you are a faithful Christian and you have never wavered in your faith, or maybe you see yourself as a Christian with more of a casual commitment; in either case, your dire circumstances have you calling out to God in fervent prayer – waiting for His answer to your predicament.
And you hear - NOTHING!
In fact, the Great Silence seems to fill you up and God’s silent echoes seem to reverberate in almost every corner of your life. In the midst of your greatest trials and suffering, when your cries to God are the loudest – He is suddenly mute. I know, I’ve been to that place and it is an empty, cold, dark cave ringing with doubt and fear!
However, there is a problem with that sense of anomie – God is never silent! He speaks to us in so many ways that it is almost impossible not to hear Him. Sometimes our prayers are so loud that we overwhelm His voice, making it difficult to hear anything other than our own pleadings. With our heads hanging down, our eyes narrowed, and our ears hearing nothing other than our own dark thoughts, we become so self-absorbed in our own misery that we become oblivious to everything around us, even those things that are practically clamoring for our attention.
God does indeed speak to us at all times, in every season and through every difficulty. He whispers, He shouts, prods, cajoles, leads, always listens and speaks to us in myriad ways. Our first task in actually hearing Him is through reverent prayer and our own silence. Pray faithfully, with thanksgiving and then wait in silent reflection, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Sometimes His answer is simply, “While I am working on this to your ultimate benefit and My ultimate glory, wait!”
While we wait, God shows us other ways He speaks to us. Sometimes we must search the bible for His word on the troubles confronting us – the answer is there, He leaves it to us to draw it out. We must be mindful that what we are asking of God may be outside of His glory or will and we may be asking for something that will ultimately prove disastrous for ourselves or others, whether we realize it or not. There are times when, deep down, we know that what we are asking for is contrary to God’s will – His word will reveal that to us. We can find God speaking to us through others – the power of Christian fellowship is not to be overlooked. Confessing our predicament to our true Christian friends puts them to work on our problems, sharing the load. Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms, ”Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19)
One caveat – I have heard many people, including preachers say that the reason God is not responding or speaking to us is due to our unconfessed sin. Respectfully, I must say that is absurd. The Holy Spirit is always there to convict us of our wayward wanderings and while we should never persist in choosing sin over God’s word, he will not abandon us. The bible is replete with God choosing, using and speaking to the worst of sinners – David was an adulterer and murderer (2 Samuel 11:1-27), yet God still spoke to David and continued to use him throughout the remainder of his life. In the New Testament, Paul (then Saul) was a Christian persecutor and murderer (Acts 9:1, Galatians 1:13-14) and yet Jesus spoke directly to him during the famous Road to Damascus conversion (Acts 9:3-9). If you are a Christian, or even a pre-Christian on your way to salvation, the message of the bible is that we are God’s chosen people; you are His child and He will always welcome you back into His loving arms (Luke 15:11-32). Through Christ, we do not have to worry about God rejecting us because of some forgotten, obscure sin, His love is far more powerful than a remote sin we fail to recognize.
Our prayers to God and His benevolence, mercy and grace are not a genie in a bottle to be used at our command, thus we cannot simply expect God to deliver anything we ask. While God has great plans for all of us, His ways can be difficult to understand (Isaiah 55:8). Still, in summary, God is there for you, He listens, He loves, and he ALWAYS answers! Listen to His whispers, watch for His signs, steep yourself in His word and even if your answer does not come in one blinding flash, be assured that He will answer bit by glorious bit, until you cannot help but be awed by His response!
