When GOD is Silent

Sometimes it’s difficult to hear God. We cry out to Him. We ask for clarity. But it appears that we’re facing a brick wall and we wonder if we’re going to have to guess our way through life.
We look to the people around us, we scroll for the answers online. We see people speaking and acting on what God has told them and the comparison game starts to play in our heads. “God, You speak to her and not to me? What gives?” We question our worth, especially to Him. Why won’t God speak to us?
This is my question as I type this. “God, I asked You for a word of encouragement to share with my sisters, and nothing?” I stop and I listen. I aimlessly turn the pages of my Bible. I read back on old journal entries. There are lots of promising possibilities, but nothing says that this is God’s word for this moment. I don’t want a God word of my choosing. I want the message to be entirely from Him.
I recall David, in his agony, on the run from Saul or Absalom, crying out in anguish to God:
How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? Psalm 13:1
This isn’t the only Psalm like this. David felt it. Abandoned and alone. Left to fend for himself. As if God had indeed forgotten him. We all know though, that that’s not the case.
If David felt like that, it shouldn’t be a surprise that we go through the same thing. God seems completely silent. We feel lost and adrift.
But if we have a relationship with God, like David did, we should know that He is a God we can trust. When the future is uncertain, we can remember all the times that God has come through for us in the past. We can remember all the times that His methods to save seemed unorthodox at first, but He always came through somehow.
If we are in His Word, we understand His character. We know that when He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” He means it.
David understood that. In fact, even though he started Psalm 13 feeling sorry for himself (as we all tend to feel at times), he ends it with renewed trust and praise.
But I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because He has dealt bountifully with me.  Psalm 13:5-6
Remember His goodness, renew your trust in Him and rejoice. You’ll hear from Him when the time is right.

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