When God Shuts Up

Does it ever feel like God gets silent on you?

You’ve been fasting and praying and keeping hope alive for that situation that is threatening to stress you out. And the days grow into weeks, the weeks into months, the months into years, and nothing.

Sometimes you ask yourself, well what have I done why my earnest prayers are not being answered?

I mean after all, we know that God never slumbers nor sleeps - Psalms 121:3-4 KJV tells us “He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.”

And He promised to hear and answer our prayers, Psalm 34:17-18 “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, And delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

The Bible also tells us that God sees and knows everything. Correct?

Proverbs 15:3 “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Beholding the evil and the good.”

From the New International Version of The Bible, we read in Hebrews 4:13 that “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

We also know that as the wise God that He is, He knew what we would need  and made those provisions even before we were created. 

Jeremiah 1:5 ““Before I formed you in the womb I knew you...”” 

Matthew 6:8 “…your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

And Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”

So we have all of these fabulous reassurances, yet we go about this life like we are lords unto ourselves.  

Some people have no regard for God until they run into a problem they know they can’t solve on their own or when they reach their death bed. Then they cry out to God. 

The opposite is also true: there are those who know that because we have all of these reassurances, when we run into a rough patch and we can’t get out, we know we can go boldly to God expecting Him to deliver us.

But that bad thing still happens. And sometimes we wonder why is God silent.

Thing about it, we forget to analyse the situation and realise and accept that we are where we are because of who we are and that some changes need to take place in our lives in order to benefit from those promises of God.

Yes we are all children of God, but I’m referring to the stubbornness and pride and lack of discipline in some people that gets them in that difficult situation. In that place, you know that the  only help you can get that can really help you, is from God. 

So we continue to run to God. He asks us to. 

In Matthew 11:28-30 He said ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”” 

We know that God wants the best for us. Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

So here’s the cliffhanger, here’s the deal. 

In our eyes God has shut up, we are not hearing from Him anymore on that particular subject. He seems to be silent.

This is where some people lose faith in God instead of standing on His promises. 

This is where people around you mock you and ask, where is your God now?

There are well known instances in the Bible when it appeared that God was silent.

When Jesus was on the Cross (Matthew 27:46): He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

There’s the story of Job’s Suffering (Job 30:20-21): Job was a righteous man, but he faced extreme suffering, and at one point he felt that God was not answering his cries for relief.

David’s Laments: David often expressed feelings of abandonment or silence from God in the Psalms. In Psalm 13:1-2, David cried out, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?”

The Israelites in Egypt (Exodus 2:23-25): Before God sent Moses to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, they cried out for help for a long time. Although God eventually acted, it seemed to them that He had been silent for years while they suffered under oppression.

Thing is, I believe in our times of feeling abandoned, God is looking at us saying, read the Bible, listen to me, I am speaking to you, in fact, I already spoke. It’s your time now to act.

What else do we expect God to say to us or do for us? How many times does God have to speak to us, redirect our steps, rescue us?

God is saying to me, God is saying to somebody today, I have already spoken.

But our God is so merciful and good and patient with us. Hallelujah. So much so that even when it appears as though His mouth is shut, He is still speaking to us, leading us, protecting us, providing for us, pleading with us to walk in obedience to Him.

Isaiah 65:1-17 and I read a few verses from the ESV as I close: 

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; ….

These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay; …

Thus says the Lord: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’ so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all. …

But you who forsake the Lord, … I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.”“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.”

That’s the Word of the Lord.

God is watching us Family, and He is simply saying: I already spoke and my Word will not change. 

Let us rise up in response to the leading of the Holy Spirit, because He has not gone silent.

aub - 7 October 2024

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