silent Savior
Prayers that go unanswered, wisdom that hasn’t been delivered, cries that aren’t comforted, and no matter what you seem to do there is nothing but silence from our savior. What do you do….where do you turn to…. Seasons of preparation are often laid out for us in chaos and confusion not because Christ is absent or is just “messing” with us but because He knows the weakest part of our lives and is working to strengthen us in that area.
Sometimes its easy to claim that God is not speaking to us even though were living in His will for our lives and we are seeking his guidance. If it seems like God is silent the first thing you need to realize is more than likely your life is extremely loud and full of “noise”. Imagine being at game 7 of the world series and it’s the bottom 9th two outs and your team (the home team) is one strike away from winning the game and prior to that final pitch your spouse leans over to your shoulder and whispers something to you. What are the chances your going to hear what is being said to you? Im going to say absolutely zero because the environment that you have surrounded yourself in has zero opportunity to hear your spouse whisper to you. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily because the world series is only going to last a few hours and then later that evening you will prioritize some time to be able to communicate with your spouse effectively.
Now imagine that same scenario only the world series is taking place in your soul and it is relentlessly never ending, instead of runs and outs its, bills, kids, career, house chores, work deadlines, friends, struggles, and we could literally go on and on with that list. As the game of life is running through your head every moment your awake what are the chances that in all of that chaos and noise that your going to hear the Holy Spirits whispers… probably very unlikely.
If our savior seems silent then start off by silencing the noise. Get to a place where literally it is silent and daily, multiple times a day if you need to pour out your heart to the savior in a place of silence and make sure your not talking so much that He is unable to talk back to you. Pour your heart out and then listen. Don’t expect the google search response, God doesn’t do anything on our time. You may not hear your “answer” right away, that’s ok. How on earth can anyone of us claim we have Faith if that faith is never tested. Struggles and silence are two main forms that our faith is tested and strengthened. Know that the silence is strengthening you and the lack of a response does not mean the savior is sleeping but rather he is stretching you. God uses what we feel like silence is to stretch and strengthen us in areas of our lives we need it most. If we are struggling with doubt then know that God wants us to get to the place where every area of doubt in our life is without a second thought automatically replaced with Him. If were struggling with fear and anxiety Im not saying that when we pray for God to alleviate those feelings that hes going to flip the switch and those situations causing those emotions are immediately removed. That’s not how God works Hes not our genie in a lamp, what He wants is for us to give Him those fears and know that He is in control, Hes always in control, and we choose Faith In Him over fear of our temporary situations.
Seasons of silence sometimes come packaged as preparation for a journey that there is no other way to prepare for. Some seasons last longer than others, and what we may think is silence is actually God telling us “rest in me know that I am in control” and when we have truly rested in Him and found comfort in His being in control then we will begin to hear his whispers for direction in our life. Sometimes God uses “silence” as a season of control. When we are control freaks we need to have our brakes pumped if you will….. As much as we love to think we are in control of our lives we really aren’t and when we get lost in the chaos of life a lot of times we look to find comfort in the things we can control but God doesn’t want us to find comfort in the control of our chaos, He was us to rest in HIS comfort and HIS control of our lives and that means in all of the chaos we GIVE him all control of our lives.
Have you ever had a traumatic injury or broken a bone, or ever been uncomfortable for a period of time? I think we all have, how slow does time seem to move when we are in severe pain, we think 10 minutes has been an hour and everything slows to a crawl. Its no different for our spiritual seasons of silence and discomfort. Its easy for us when we are being stretched and strengthened to immediately expect answers in our silence. We have to remember God is outside of time and is not bound by it and find peace in knowing that the God of our lives is in control of time. We so often want answers, directions, and guidance now, But that’s not according to Gods timeline and seasons of silence in my life almost always become seasons of strengthening my patience and my faith. We are in a world where immediate results are now, if you have a broken bone and get to a hospital in a matter of minutes you have an IV with pain medication running in it and your pain is gone. God wants us strengthened and molded into the person He has created us to be and so often what seems like silence is God strengthening my patience and faith in knowing HIS timing in my life is greater than anything I can fathom. Just because He seems silent don’t let that bring you down to a place of confusion and frustration but rather strengthen your faith and belief in knowing that Gods will and Gods timing in my life is greater than anything I can control and if my patience has to be strengthened to get to His will in my life then expect a season of silence to strengthen your faith and patience in our savior.
2 Corinthians 12:10
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecution, and calamities. For when I am weak then I am Strong.