An inscription found on a wall of a cellar in Cologne, Germany in WWII, where Jews were hiding read:
I believe in the sun even when it is not shining
I believe in love even when feeling it not
I believe in God even when He is silent
Part of me always feels guilty to admit I feel God is being silent. It feels disrespectful to God, who I know loves me so much and desires to communicate with me. Yet, there are times He is silent. And it is a piercing silence.
I read Job’s plea in 30:20, “I cry out to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me” and I can frustratingly and overwhelmingly agree. The longer the silence the more vexatious it is. In those silences it can be hard to wait.
But it is also in those silences that I have seen Him moving the most in my life. My perspective is one way and His ways are beyond my comprehension. My job in the silences is to look to His character, because one thing we know is that what He promises, He will fulfill. And He has promised that He will never leave us.
I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we can confidently say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.
Hebrews 13:5-6
Oswald Chambers said, “If God has given you a silence, then praise Him – He is bringing you in the the mainstream of His purposes.” Basically Chambers points out that God has trusted us to remain faithful through those silences. He trusts that even without a visible answer, we are holding onto His promises.
Often when we lack something, it makes our desire grow stronger. It makes us desire something that only He can fulfill.
“We thank Thee, Lord, for weary days
When desert streams were dry
And first we knew what depths of need
Thy Love could satisfy”
-Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
So rather than feel guilty and frustrated, I am learning to embrace these silences, asking God to reveal what He would have me learn and waiting attempting to wait patiently for His guidance.
Maybe you are in one of those silences now. Don’t stop believing in His goodness. We have much hope in Him.
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
-Hebrews 6:19
He never changes and His love never changes. He is our one constant. It is impossible for Him to leave us. He just won’t do it. What a relief to know that even in the midst of the silences, His love never fails and never gives up on us.
Rhonda N. Smith 