Why Is God So Silent?

Have you ever felt silence from the Lord? Where you go to Him, you seek Him… and God feels far away? Like a grasping for the wind? If you find yourself in that season today, I want to provide an encouragement for you.

Silence Leads to Questions

Silence can cause us to wonder and question.

• Have I done something wrong?

• Is He mad?

• Does He care?

Question your questions, though. Why is the only category for the reasons we receive silence from the Lord negative? Could there be positive ones? And is the Lord actually being as silent as we think?

Seeming Silence

Seeming silence from the Lord is one of the most difficult and discouraging encounters for a Christian. I believe all silence from the Lord is seeming silence, though. Yes, there may be periods where God’s voice is quiet, his joys seem far, and his love seems hard to grasp. But perception is not always reality. How many times in the Bible do we see what appears to be silence and forgetfulness by God, when in fact He is at work in the background?

For instance, consider how Israel was under captivity in Egypt for 430 years. In Exodus 2:24 we read: “And God heard their groaning…” In the next chapter the famous burning bush story is told… it is a story about God equipping a man, Moses, to free His people. Here’s the point. In that last year, when Israel is crying out to God for freedom, are they aware that God is at work in Moses? No. They have no idea what is going on hundreds of miles away. And yet, God is at work getting their liberator ready. But from their perception, all they heard was silence…

Perception does not dictate Reality

God is at work in your life, Christian. Even when all you hear is silence. Do not let your perception of who God is and what God is doing (or not doing) dictate your reality. Let the Bible dictate who God is and what God is up to. Do not listen to your thoughts, feelings, or anxieties. Yes, they are real. Yes, they are heavy and burdensome. No, they don’t just magically float away when we open the Bible. But preach to yourself the realities of the Scriptures. Preach to yourself Romans 8:28- “God works all things for good for those who love Him.” All things.

Even Silence.

A Lifting Up Of The Downcast

The great “doctor of the soul”, William Bridge says it better than I ever could. Bridge is responding to his original argument of “can someone be discouraged if they hear silence from God?”:

“If Christ therefore forsakes His people for a moment, that He may not forsake them for ever, and has a design of love, and nothing but love, upon them in His forsaking; then have they no just cause for their discouragement. Now I ask, what is the reason why God forsakes His people for a time, or a moment? Has He any design but love? Does He not withdraw Himself from them, that He may draw them to Himself? Does He not hide His face for a moment, that He may not turn His back upon them for ever? Does He not forsake them for a moment, that they may die unto all the world, and long after heaven, where there is no forsaking? Does He not forsake them for a moment, that they may die unto the way of sense, and learn to live by faith, which is the proper work of this life? Does He not forsake them for a moment, that in this winter of their desertion, the weeds and vermin of their sins may be killed and mortified? Does He not forsake them for a moment, that HE may see their love to Him?”

-A Sermon from Psalm 42:11, Preached in 1648 by William Bridge. Find the collection of his sermons here.

Bridge says that in every silence of the Lord, is a design of love. God’s ways are truly mysterious. Like a wise King, he knows sometimes we need gentleness, tenderness, nearness. And sometimes what is best for us is a hard journey. I don’t claim to know why you are in silence right now. There are millions of reasons God has led you where you are. But could you believe that it is, as Romans 8:28 says, for your good?

I can confidently say this with tears in my own eyes, God truly works all things for our good, even difficult things. I have walked in that silence. I was in high school when I walked through that barren wasteland from God. It was the most difficult, confusing, and frustrating time of my entire Christian life. I was seeking after God and yet I found nothing for months.

I was always trying to find something to hold, some sort of anchor to latch onto in that season. I often thought it was payback for sin, as if God was punishing me. Some nights I even thought I had been abandoned because I was too far gone. I didn’t understand it. But, on the other side, I can truly say, it was for my good. I saw the evilness of sin in that season. I dove deeply into God. I saw His heart for me. I became more of a sensitive Christian, instead of the self-righteous and arrogant one I was. I gained a great love for teaching, and my calling to be a pastor was born from that season. There truly was a design of love behind it.

And so it is with yours. We might not understand the reasoning behind silence, but we can know its design. God is working all things for your good, Christian. Even Silence.

Trusting His promises with you,

Josh.

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