The journey of faith is filled with many ups and downs, and most of us find it difficult to fix our eyes on Jesus during such times. Finding faith when God seems silent is crucial for our stability in faith. And since life isn’t a standard gauge—since life has different seasons—we must focus on the Lord, even when heaven keeps quiet. The silence is often evidenced when our prayers remain unanswered in the way we anticipated. Other times, extended periods of difficulty and trouble can cause us to doubt his hand in our lives. This article will guide us to what should anchor us during such moments.
Silence is not Absence
When the children of Israel were in Egyptian captivity, God seemed silent (Exodus 1-3). Though all was well when Joseph was ruling with Pharaoh (Genesis 41:1-57), things quickly changed, and oppression defined their stay there. The children of Israel felt like God had turned his face away from them. The Israelites lost hope in any deliverance. They doubted the promise God had given to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12 and 17). But despite all these things, God was always there! He was always there, watching over them and working out the details of the nation’s promised land. From this passage, it is clear that, just as God has promised us things, he will sometimes not always bring them forth immediately. Many times, the delay may make us think that God has forgotten us, causing us to doubt his faithfulness.
When the Lord came to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-17), he told him that he had heard the cry of the people; he had seen their suffering and was coming to save them. Though God seemed silent, he assured Moses that he wasn’t distant. He always saw their plight and was actively working towards their deliverance.
There could be areas in your life or situations where God doesn’t seem to be present. Like the Israelites, you think he is no longer interested in your affairs. During such moments, your call is to trust him all the more. Remind yourself that he always keeps his promises despite the challenges in between (Psalm 27:7, 56:3-4). His silence doesn’t mean that he has forgotten you. He always watches over us, even though we may not see or feel it at times (Psalm 23:6).
Deepened Trust
Secondly, seeming silence from heaven has a way of building trust in God, sadistic as it may sound to some. The word ‘trust’ means believing that God has our best interests at heart, regardless of the challenges that may come our way. Solomon calls us to trust God wholeheartedly. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to place all our confidence in God without trying to use our abilities or wisdom. When God doesn’t speak as promptly as we want, he allows us to ground our hearts’ dependency upon him and his word. Consider Job, who went through many tragic moments in a short span. He lost his family and possessions, all in a day, yet didn’t lose trust. He was frustrated and had questions, too. Job’s wife gave up hope, imploring him to curse God and die (Job 2:9). However, in all the tribulations he faced, Job never cursed God. He held on to God (Job 1:22).
Think about the three Hebrew boys—Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego (Daniel 3:8-25)—who were thrown into the furnace of fire. Though the threat was imminent and their lives were at stake, they chose to trust God. As much as God came through in the furnace, it was in the waiting that they learned to trust in him.
The other thing that can help us trust in God is meditating on God’s word and promises. What do we know about God’s Word? Have we read the scriptures to understand his character and learn his promises? Trust is built as we interact with the Word of God. We can trust him in the silence when we know what he has said. We get to know God’s word as we read, study, meditate, and memorize it (Psalm 1:1-3). The more we read the Bible, the more we learn how God does his things with men and understand the bigger picture— his glory and our good. Understanding God’s workings holds us back from throwing in the towel on stormy days since our souls are anchored on him (Hebrews 6:19).
Listening in the Stillness
The other good thing that can happen when heaven is silent is that we learn how to listen in the silence. There are many noises around us from many quarters: personal issues, life’s duties, family, among others. It can be a challenge to tune in and listen to the Lord. God can speak to us at any time, including those moments of stillness. One example is the prophet Elijah, who waited to hear the Lord’s word. The scriptures say that the prophet sought God in the thunder, wind, and fire, but he only heard God in the stillness of the moment, through a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:1-13).
The phrase “Be still” is often used as a call to trust God and rely on his power. It suggests that individuals should stop striving and worrying and instead trust God’s plan. As human beings, we are becoming increasingly averse to silence and stillness. Often, we think that God must bring chaos around us to show his power. We prefer activity to stillness. For many of us, a prayer only qualifies as powerful based on how loud we are and not how quiet we are. Stillness and quietness are seen as weak and void of the Spirit.
Several Psalms call us to be still and wait upon the Lord (Psalm 37:7, 46:10). We all need to learn to listen keenly, especially when God seems quiet. Moving away from our noisy environments (literally) and embracing silence is sometimes essential. Killing the noise around us helps us focus on what God has to say.
Delayed Answers Grow Faith
When heaven goes silent, it stretches us hence allowing us to grow in our faith. Strange as it may sound, our faith grows deeper and stronger in times of delayed answers from heaven. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). If God answered every prayer immediately, we would be the most entitled creatures since we would expect God to move at our beck and call. God delays our answers so that we can grow in faith. It is in the moment of waiting that we get to grasp God’s character and care fully.
Most importantly, we know God as the price and not his gifts. The writer of one hymn declares, “When all around our souls give way, he then is all our hope and stay.” God is more precious to us than what he allows us to have. The conviction that needs to be engraved in our hearts is that God is enough, much more than anything he could ever give us.
In the season of silence and waiting, pray that God would give you patience as he grows your faith and deepens your trust in him. If we respond rightly to these prolonged periods of silence, we will ultimately get to know God as our only satisfaction beyond all we could ever ask of him. When heaven seems quiet, it doesn’t mean God has stopped working. It only means that God is working to grow our faith and cause us to know him more profoundly than we have ever known him. He will make things work out beautifully in his time (Isaiah 60:22).