The
God of Silence
June 2003
The Bible declares that we should
"Be still and know that He
is God" (Ps. 46:10). And indeed
He is. Whether or not He is speaking
loudly and clearly in a way that
is obvious to us, we must believe
that He is still God. Often when
we stop our movement and scattered
thoughts long enough to finally
come to a point of silence we are
amazed and often angered that we
do not now hear the voice of God.
We expect that since we have finally
obeyed that He will reward us by
speaking immediately and clearly,
but that is not necessarily the
way He shows us that He is God.
He is not only the God who divides
the Red Sea of our problems. He
is not only the God who makes the
walls of our Jericho's to fall down.
He is not only known to make the
sleeping Lazarus rise from His slumber
to the amazement and wonder of the
crowd. Although He is more than
able, He is not only the God who
shakes the earth and causes fire
to fall from the heavens to consume
our sacrifices and prove a point
to those around us. Sometimes His
power is shown, sometimes His glory
declared, sometimes His children
strengthened not by the greatness
of His actions, but rather by the
silence and stillness of His voice.
One of the greatest gifts that He
can give to us as His children is
no explanation at all. Are we always
looking for an answer or immediate
response from the Father? Are we
angered when He doesn't respond
when and how we want Him to? Are
we always trying to hear what He
may say next and in doing so miss
what there is for us to learn in
the midst of His decision to render
Himself silent? There is a reason
why He has chosen to leave you in
the situation you are in, on your
knees and looking up to Him. There
is something in the silence that
you would miss if He spoke to you
now. Just as a child might not understand
the directions given by his parents
and might not always be given a
reason why, that child must simply
trust. His faith must come in knowing
that his parents are his spiritual
covering and shield in the midst
of not knowing. So too, our heavenly
Father does not give us all of the
answers, He sometimes just watches
and waits to see what our next move
will be. . .to see if we will obey
the commands of His word and simply
"Be still". We must trust
that He is our God and our shield.
In His silence, He speaks volumes
to us. He is commanding us to wait
on Him and focus our attention on
His holiness. Is He only God to
us when He speaks or is He still
our praised Father when we see nothing
happening and we hear no voice from
the heavens? We must believe that
in the midst of the silence He is
indeed still in control?
A Canaanite woman called out to
Jesus as He and His disciples were
traveling. The woman began to beg
and plead for Him to have mercy
on her. Her daughter was "demon-possessed"
(Matt. 15:22). However this Jesus
did not turn back and did not respond
to her. "He did not answer
her a word" (v23). He kept
walking. I wonder what she felt
like? Calling out to God with all
of her might; looking for an solution
to her problem; trying to get this
God who claimed to love her to help
her in her situation. Yet, the Master
was quiet. The disciples who were
traveling with Jesus were tired
of hearing this persistent woman
call out to Him. They wanted Jesus
to answer so that she would be quiet.
They were responding to a physical
problem, the Messiah was interested
in teaching them a spiritual lesson.
In fact, I have found that in our
frailty we are most always concerned
with physical solutions to our problems
and in His deity He is most often
concerned with teaching a spiritual
lesson that is far more important.
This woman came and fell before
Him and begged him to help. She
didn't care about what the others
thought of her. She kept coming!
She offered to accept whatever He
would give. Anything would do as
long as it came from her Lord. Jesus
said, "O woman, your faith
is great; be it done for you as
you wish". And this faithful
woman's daughter was healed. I believe
that this woman left with more than
what she had begged God for. This
woman left the presence of the Master
with a spiritual lesson learned
about the quiet Jesus. She had seen
Him performing miracles before the
masses and healing people left and
right, yet it took Him some time
to respond to her. She learned that
silence deepened her pursuit of
the Master. She bowed low to the
ground and before Him after she
received no response. I wonder if
her loyalty and honor would have
been to the same magnitude had she
received an immediate response.
The silence increased the intensity
of her pursuit. And that is exactly
what God wants most. Not to merely
give us want we want but to cause
us to want Him more. It is in wanting
Him that we get what He wants for
us. Are you calling out to the silent
Jesus right now for a solution to
a problem you face? Are you waiting
for Him to respond yet hearing nothing
and becoming frustrated because
He is not answering you in the clear,
loud way that you had hoped? Maybe
He is speaking to you. He is asking
you to pursue Him. Don't pursue
the solution. . .pursue the Savior!
Run after Him, fall down before
Him, call out to Him. Pay no attention
to those who are watching and becoming
frustrated by your loud calling
to capture the attention of your
Lord. In His silence, He is still
God and desires that the quietness
of His voice will make you desperate.
. not for a solution to you problem
but rather for the person of the
Master!
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