5 Reasons God May be Silent
Ever had one of those times when it seems that, no matter how hard you press in to try to hear what God is saying, you hear nothing? Deafening silence? Crickets, maybe? I’m sure I’m not alone. I thought I’d share a few of the things I’ve learned about God during those times. (And isn’t it amazingly cool that we can continue to learn so much from Him even when He’s silent?!?! He’s just that deep!)
1. “Are you listening for My answer?” My precious grandson tends to perseverate. Example:
“Grandmama, can I have a snack?”
Me: “Not now, Buddy.”
“Grandmama, can I have a snack, Pleeeaaase???”
“No, Bud, not now.”
“Grandmama, can I have a snack? ‘Cause I always have a snack.”
You get the picture. This can go on and on if I let it. Sometimes I just have to laugh, other times I look at him and ask, “Buddy, what did I say?” He knows the answer; he’s just hoping for a different one. Sometimes I do the same with my Abba. I want to hear the answer I was hoping for, not the one I’ve already gotten. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day repeatedly asked Him if He was the Anointed One though they didn’t want the answer that already resonated in their hearts. (Mark 14:61-64)
2. “What did I already tell you?” Similar to the previous one, but different in motivation: Sometimes I am just (once again) moving ahead of God. He’s given me some directive and I’ve meant to get to it, but haven’t. Sometimes I’ve noticed that His silence is telling me to finish what He’s told me to do. Having a chatterbox child taught me this. Sometimes I would just stare at her blankly until she realized that in spite of the fact she has continued chattering, I was still waiting for her to do what I had told her to do. I can just picture the Lord with that same blank expression as I prattle on about everything and then wonder why He’s just standing there looking like that. So patiently, He is waiting for me to get a clue. “Oh yeah! I was supposed to (fill in the blank)!” I’ve always found it somewhat humorous that in the book of Jonah, God tells Jonah to go to Ninevah and remains silent until Jonah has been spewed from the fish. God does not say one more word to Jonah until He repeats the same instruction: “Go to Ninevah!” (paraphrased from Jonah 1:2 and 3:2) Sometimes all it takes is a thumbing through my journal to realize I was given an instruction and I need to follow through.
3. “Who are you focused on?” The other day I had gotten a bit pensive so my husband, Tim, asked me what I was thinking about. The truth was I was on the verge of throwing myself a mini pity party. I already had my little hat on and was blowing up the balloons when he asked. I didn’t think he wanted to be on the invite list so I answered, singing a scale, “Me, me, me, ME, me, me, me!” Party over. Sometimes when we pray we need to just get a bigger view than “me and mine.” God is, of course, concerned for every detail of our lives, but a sign of maturity is being able to see beyond the end of our own noses! God’s silence can serve to snap us out of our egocentric thinking and remind us, it’s not all about us.
4. “You’re asking the wrong question.” Even if we are looking in the right direction, we may be looking at the wrong thing. I can get so intent on one subject that it is all I want to ask Him about, like the disciples asking Jesus after the Resurrection, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6) If I were Jesus I would have just shook my head and said, “You just don’t get it, do you?” Often God has so much more for us than what our temporal eyes can see. When He is silent, not answering your questions, it pays to just sit back and ask Him what’s on His mind! Reset your heart to beat in rhythm with His.
5. “This is a test of the Emergency Broadcasting System. This is only a test.” Listening does not come naturally. It requires training. That is why the EBS runs those obnoxious tests! In listening for God’s voice, there’s so much growth that comes just by developing the maturity to sit and wait – even when nothing comes! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat with my silent Abba for the entire time I have allotted for intense listening for that particular day only to have Him drop a bomb of revelation in the last two minutes! God shows Himself faithful to those who are faithful (2 Sam 22:26). The question is: Are you willing to press in though you hear nothing for days, weeks, months? Are you willing to say, “Lord even if You are silent, I will show myself faithful and trust You to speak in Your good timing.” There have been times in the past when I would listen with all I had and hear nothing. I would think, “Well, that was pointless.” But I’ve learned that nothing done in an effort to grow closer to God is pointless and while I didn’t get what I had hoped for that day, I sowed seed that will continue to feed me the rest of my life.
Yes, God can be silent, but it is silence that speaks volumes! There’s a line in a song that I love that speaks of His silence. It says, “I am hanging on every word You say and even if You don’t want to speak tonight, that’s alright, alright with me. ‘Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside Your door and listen to You breathing, is where I want to be.” This is what true lovers do. They listen and hear, even when nothing is said.
“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” Psalm 130:5-6