Answers From God

When I struggle with silence from God, I realize that what I consider to be His silence might really be His hidden mercy. The inner workings of my heart might be tested and refined by the God of my righteousness in ways that I can’t yet discern. His purpose might be to brighten and sharpen my spiritual listening skills. He might want me to cultivate a sense of hearing Him when nothing audible can be detected.

What seems like God’s silence might be the very way He exposes my impatient heart, my demanding expectations, my sense of justice, my distracted thoughts, and my lack of self-awareness. The to-do’s of my life might be veiling God’s gentle whispers urging me to possess calm faith, gracious hope, an escape route from self-righteousness, clearer thoughts, and an understanding of godly self-differentiation.

All this so that I am not on someone else’s band wagon, I am not caught up in divisive conversations, I am not preserving myself over others, and I am not failing to keep the one thing the One Thing. So that I am clinging to my One Thing – Jesus Christ. So that I am not pretending to be all-knowing like Him. So that I am only interested in what is God-glorifying and edifying. So that I am only caught up in the One and Only cause – Jesus Christ and His Gospel, His truth, His way.

One of my favorite authors is David Powlison (who went to be with the Lord in 2019). In his devotional book Take Heart: Daily Devotions to Deepen Your Faith (Nov. 11, p. 316), he says, “I was changed because God intervened personally. I was changed because words of Scripture invited me into Christ. I was changed because a friend was faithful and honest. I was changed because of failure, guilt, suffering, and disillusionment. I changed because I turned from sin to Christ. How did God work? God spoke and acted into my harried, anxious experience.”

His answers sometime appear to be silent. But, when I stop and listen carefully with my heart, I realize that my cloud of busyness and striving is simply covering up God’s answers. I’m creating the silent treatment. And all the time, God has been near when I have been far. He has been speaking when my earthly senses have failed me. He has been working, but not in the ways I expect. He has been shaking my faith, so it matures into more unshakeable. He has been watching over me while I sleep, as a father would look over the crib of his infant daughter. He is saying through His word – ask, seek, and knock, and you will find Me.

Maybe I’m seeking His answers in the wrong places. That would certainly be typical of a human being. Maybe I’m trying to fit God into my paradigm. Maybe I’m trying to understand what cannot be understood on this side of heaven. Maybe I’m interfering in His work. Maybe I’m holding onto past hurts and grudges that enslave me. Maybe I’m not willing to forgive. Maybe I’m not willing to say “not my will, but Yours God.”

Whatever it is, when God seems silent, maybe silence is the vehicle He uses for developing our spiritual senses. And while He seems silent, His word gives us literally tons of things to meditate upon and generations of prayers that answer the deepest needs and questions of the heart. This is the opposite of silence. God’s Word brings answers.