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When God Is Silent

Summary:
Have you ever felt like God was giving you the silent treatment? You prayed and
asked Him to give you direction, but there was no answer.You listened for His voice, but He did not respond.You may have even wondered if you had missed His direction or if for some reason He had abandoned youwhich He would never do. Understandably, it can be very disheartening when you dont hear from God at all. So how do you respond when God is silent? Do you think that He has lost interest in you? Do you feel as if Hes distant and unreachable? Do you have a difficult time understanding why He would be quiet when you need Him so badly? God has an excellent purpose for His silence, although you may not yet comprehend it. And He will teach you through it in ways youve never imagined.

Key Passage:

John 11:1-15

Supporting Scripture: Psalm 46:10; Matthew 6:33; 27:46; Mark 15:34; Hebrews 7:25; 13:5; Revelation 8:1

Scriptural Principles:
1 Instances of His silence.
There are many examples in Scripture of Gods silence. For example, when Lazarus was sick and dying, his sisters sent word to Jesus saying, Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick (John 11:3). They knew how deeply Christ felt for their family, and probably imagined that He would rush to be with them in their time of need. However, this was not the case. In fact, John 11:6 tells us, When He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Instead of running to comfort them, Jesus waited. He was silent. Yet, it was for a very good reason. When Jesus finally did go to see them, He glorified God by raising Lazarus from the dead. God was also quiet for more than 400 years between the last prophet of the Old Testament (Malachi) and His words to Zacharias (the father of John the Baptist) in the New Testament. As you can imagine, after 400 years of waiting, Israel was ready to hear His voice. Gods silence is for a very good reason.Yet, if the only thing you care about is getting information from Him or having your requests answered, then you are going to miss some of the greatest blessings in knowing God. And He certainly does not want that to happen.

2 A lesson from His silence.

Many times, God is silent when we first ask Him about a significant decision or trial that we are struggling with.We want to honor Him because we know He will bless our obedience.We ask Him to show us His willclaiming Matthew 6:33, which says, Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.Yet, He does not reply. So we pray more, wondering when He will show us what to do.Then, in a moment we dont expect, He rewards our intense desire for His willHe gives us the unmistakable guidance and direction that weve been asking for. He assures us of what He is going to do in our life with clarity, purpose, and power. We discover that during this time of silence, God was preparing us for something truly great He wants to do in and through us.
LIFE PRINCIPLES NOTES | LP071202

3 Reasons for His silence.

Although it is comforting to know that God has a purpose in the silence, what specifically is God accomplishing? This, of course, varies from person to person, and depends on where you are in your walk with Him. However, the following are some questions we can ask to understand how He is working. a) Are we really listening? Sometimes, God is speaking, but we just havent learned how to be quiet and pay attention to Him. At other times, Hes not saying what we want to hear, so we imagine that He is not communicating His will to uswe tune Him out.Whenever there is silence, it is good to analyze whether or not were really listening to Him. b) Do we have any unconfessed sin? Occasionally, God is silent because He wants to make us aware of unconfessed sin in our life.This is because sin is destructiveit hurts your relationship with Him, with others, and it also wounds you.Therefore, God will wait until you are willing to deal with your sin to speak. c) Do we require preparation? God is sovereign. He is in charge of all thingsincluding our life. However, sometimes were just not ready to relinquish control to Him. So there will be times He will wait until we acknowledge His rightful place in our lives.Then, when He knows we have learned enough to be obedient to Him, He will give us direction. d) Is God teaching us to trust Him? Sometimes we truly want to honor God as our sovereign Lord, but were afraid to trust Him.Yet, God wants us to have a relationship with Him thats based on intimate love and trust. He wants us to learn the truth found in Hebrews 13:5,I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU. When God is silent, it doesnt mean that He is inactive or that Hes not listening. Rather, He is teaching us to have confidence in Him even when our feelings and circumstances tell us differently. e) Have we learned to distinguish His voice from other influences? This is very important because you will not be able to obey God unless you first learn how to hear Him. Listening to God is essential to walking with Him.You need to differentiate between His counsel and the advice of others in order to do His will. f) Is He teaching us to persevere in prayer?You should never stop praying just because it appears that God is silent. He wants to hear your heartbringing you to the point where you are absolutely honest and completely vulnerable to Him. He is deepening your intimate relationship, so persist in prayer.

4 Responding to His silence.

Although we may feel somewhat disappointed, angry, confused, fearful, and even guilty, we need to remember that God uses silence in our lives as a tool. There is an important reason He is getting our attention. Therefore, we should: a) Ask Him what He is accomplishing in us. b) Remember that His silence doesnt mean that Hes inactive. c) Be confident that He is sovereign and everything He doeseven the silenceis for our good. As He says in Psalm 46:10, Cease striving and know that I am God. d) Respond to Him in patient, persevering, and praise-filled trust that anticipates His wonderful work in your life. e) Continue seeking Him through His Word and prayer.

Conclusion:

Has God been silent lately? Then He is raising your Christian life to a new level of intimacyone that is far above what people generally believe the life of faith to be. He is deepening His intimacy with youhelping you understand His great love for you. He is also teaching you the way He thinks and His will for your life so you can genuinely love Him in return through obedience.
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Therefore, humble yourself before Almighty Godgetting on your knees and acknowledging that He is Lord of your life. Be silent before Him and be willing to hear and obey whatever He says to you. Because if you will seek Him wholeheartedly in the silence, all of your anxiety, anger, and disappointment will disappear. God will give you a profound sense of His presence, love, and power that satisfies the deepest longing of your heart. Its yours for the asking, friendso receive what Hes offering.

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LIFE PRINCIPLES NOTES | LP071202