| The Silence of God |
by David A. DePra |
| If you have walked with God for any length of time, you |
| will experience times when no matter how hard you pray, |
| God is silent. He just doesn't answer. And there is no |
| indication that He ever will. |
| Why does God do this? Hasn't He promised to answer |
| prayer? Doesn't He know how much we need Him? Is |
| there something you ought to be doing to get God to respond |
| to you? |
| The first thing it helps to realize is that the silence of God |
| in the life of a Christian is normal. Yep. It's the way God |
| works. That's because He wants us to walk by faith, and |
| not by sight. |
| There is another, more important reason, however, for God's |
| silence. Often, when we seek God for answers, we are not |
| in the spiritual condition necessary to receive the answer. So |
| God waits until we BECOME, in order that we might |
| understand. Then He can answer us. We'll be ready to |
| receive it. |
| We need to see that in the trials and problems of life, |
| our greatest need is usually NOT information. It will do us |
| little good if God merely gave us "the facts." We'd either |
| completely misunderstand the Truth, or it would actually do |
| us harm. Only if we abide in the silence of God by faith will |
| we develope the spiritual characteristics necessary to hear |
| God's answer. This may mean much suffering and conviction. |
| But by the time we pass through the silence of God, we will |
| have experienced a new birth. |
| Jesus said that when a woman is in travail, her focus is |
| upon her pain. That's normal. But when the child is born, |
| she forgets her pain because of the wonderful little one |
| God has given her. He then said, "In that day, you will ask Me |
| no question." Jesus was not telling us that it is wrong to |
| seek God for answers and explanations. No. God wants us |
| to do this. But He is saying that when God's answer is His |
| silence, and He leaves you to suffer, then it is because there |
| is a birth taking place. And when the birth comes forth, you |
| will have no questions. That's because you will see |
| HIM. Every question is satisfied when we see Jesus Christ. |
| God is never indifferent to our prayers or to our problems. |
| Neither is He sitting in heaven waiting for us to do something |
| before He'll hear us. If the silence of God comes as His |
| answer to us, then we can be sure that it is just as wonderful |
| an answer as would be a tremendous sign or wonder. To |
| BECOME God's answer is more eternal than merely hearing it. |