June 12, 2022
“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; And by night, but I have no rest.” Psalm 22:1-2 (NASB)
Have you ever felt that God was silent in your life? A time when God appeared to be quiet when the world seems to be going crazy! A time when God appears to be non-responsive in the affairs of your life. We are living in a time we have never witnessed before!
Reflecting on the silence of God reminded me of the period between the Old and New Testament called the Intertestamental Period of 400 hundred years when God did not speak, no prophet spoke a word from God and no Scripture was written. During this Dispensational Period, God was silent for 400 hundred years!
I cannot even imagine living during that period and I am thankful that God has allowed me to live in the 21st Century! The 400 years when God did not speak began with the warning that closed the Old Testament noted in Malachi 4:5-6: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.” The dreadful period ended with the coming of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ, the Messiah!
Yes, although you and I did not live in that intertestamental period of 400 hundred, there are times in our individual walks with the Lord when God seem to be silent. Have you been asking God to intervene in a life or family situation and it appears that God is evasive? Have you ever prayed for a situation to change that would bring glory to His name and it never has changed? What do you do and how do you handle the silence of God? You may have said, God, what happened when I came humbly and boldly before Your throne of grace with my petitions. You are convinced that prayer is powerful, and yet God is still silent? You are standing on His Word, obedient to His commands, and yet, God has not answered!
Maybe the first question should be ~ “what should be my response when God is silent in my life?“ It is evident we are living in a mean and wicked world. There are injustices, senseless killings, lawlessness, and many changes taking place. However, God’s Word still stands, He reminds us in Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God.” The Message Translation says it this way “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at Me, your High God, above politics, above everything.” (MSG). With the knowledge of this blessed truth, we can be calm in times of trouble and wait on God. War and destruction are inevitable, but so is God’s final victory. He tells us to be calm in times of storms. Remember when Christ, was in a storm with His disciples, and He went to sleep. When they roused Him from His sleep, He had more trouble calming the disciples than the storm. Many of us are like those men. We don’t know what it is to wait patiently before Him. We will need to be reminded of this Psalm in the future to comfort us in the midst of what lies ahead for our country!
God’s Silence May Be Indicative of His Patience!
At times God seems silent. But His silence is not condoning sin, nor is He indifferent to it. Instead, He is withholding deserved punishment, giving time for people to repent as noted in 2 Peter 3:9. Neither does God take pleasure in the death of the wicked and want them to turn from evil, Ezekiel 33:11. But His silence does not last forever, a time of punishment will surely come.
Our Silence is One of the Best Expressions of Our Respect for God!
At that time, all will stand quietly before the Lord Almighty. How proper, then, for us to be still now, reverently honoring Him and His power and majesty. Take time each day to be still and to exalt God. The Psalmist reminds us in Psalm 50:21-22 “These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you, But I will rebuke you and set them in order before your eyes. “Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, And there be none to deliver.”
What Should Our Response Be When God Is Silent!
- Worship God! Make a decision to worship HIM! Whatever you are going through, remember God is still in charge! He is still God, He is HOLY, and His position has nothing to do with your situation, pain, or problem! He is God even in the midst of my unanswered prayer, He is still sovereign -He rules! The Psalmist says, “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the LORD; The humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt His name together.” Psalm 34:1-3
- Don’t Allow Others to Rent Space in Your Head! Keep your focus on Christ. Don’t listen to the nay-sayers! Don’t allow others to determine your destiny or view yourself through the lenses of others. Ask God to deliver you from the disease to please! Believe who God says you are! “But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9 (ASV)
- Look Into Your Evidence Closet! Take some time to look back over your life and see how God has kept you! He has kept you safe, and protected you from danger, provided for you. He answers every prayer that is lifted to Him. Sometimes God answers “no” or “wait.” God only promises to grant our prayers when we ask according to His will. 1 John 5:14-15 says “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him”
Praying according to God’s will is praying for things that honor and glorify God and/or praying for what the Bible clearly reveals God’s will to be. If we pray for something that is not honoring to God or not God’s will for our lives, God will not give us what we ask for. How can we know what God’s will is? God promises to give us wisdom when we ask for it. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” You can start in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24, which points out clearly many things that are God’s will for us. This is why it is important to KNOW and UNDERSTAND God’s Word. The better we understand God’s Word, the better we will know what to pray for, John 15:7. The better we know what to pray for, the more often God will answer “YES” to our requests.
A QUIET 
HEART Psalm 46:10, “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at Me, your High God, above politics, above everything.” (MSG). We are often guilty of busying ourselves with inconsequential activities. We often fill our lives with empty noise, commotion, and busyness that so easily distract us from God’s presence.
It is in the stillness that we find God!
FATHER GOD: Thank You, for the privilege of coming before You in prayer. Thank You Father when you answered “NO!” You knew in Your omniscience that we did not need what we thought we wanted! Thank You Father for Your answer to “WAIT!” You knew we could not handle what we thought we were ready for! Thank You Father for Your answer of “YES” and for being faithful to Your Word and knowing what we needed even before we asked! Thank You in the Precious, Powerful and Preeminent Name of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord, Amen.