“If God is silent, what’s that to you? If he turns his face away, what can you do about it? But whether silent or hidden, he’s there, ruling.” (Job 34:29 MSG)
Sometimes God speaks by saying nothing. This is extremely frustrating to us! But God has his reasons when he’s silent. You have to just wait and trust him. If you run ahead of God saying, “I haven’t heard anything from God, so I’m just going to go ahead and do this” and you don’t trust him, you’re going to have all kinds of problems and be filled with regret.
There are many examples of this in the Bible. One of them was King Saul, the first king of Israel. He was getting ready to go to battle, and he went to God and said, “God, what do you want me to do in this battle?”
But Saul hadn’t been right with God for a long time. The Bible says in 1 Samuel 28:6, “Saul prayed to GOD, but GOD didn’t answer — neither by dream nor by sign nor by prophet” (MSG).
Saul tried to find an answer three different ways, and he still didn’t get it. So he got impatient. He got desperate, and he turned to the occult — something he had outlawed in the country. He said, “Go find a spiritual advisor. Find me a medium, a psychic, a witch, somebody who can conjure up spirits or do a séance.” He knew it was wrong, and he did it anyway because he got desperate. And you know what happened? He lost everything. He lost the battle. He lost his reputation. He lost his life. He didn’t wait to hear from God, and he suffered great consequences.
So what do you do when God is silent?
First, you remember that God is in control. Job 34:29 says, “If God is silent, what’s that to you? If he turns his face away, what can you do about it? But whether silent or hidden, he’s there, ruling.” God may not share his plan with you, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have one. He has a plan and purpose for your life. He loves you. He’s a good God. And he’ll take care of you if you’ll just wait on him.
Second, you trust God. The Bible says in Psalm 50:14, “I want you to trust me in your times of trouble, so I can rescue you and you can give me glory” (TLB). God is asking you today, “Will you trust me? Will you trust me with that financial problem? Will you trust me with that dream? Will you trust me with that ache in your heart? Will you trust me with that stress? Will you trust me with that loneliness? Will you trust me with that desire to get married? Will you trust me with that health issue? Will you trust me with your dreams and ambitions? Will you trust me?”
Pray this prayer aloud or in your heart:
“Dear God, I don’t want to go through life without hearing from you. I want to learn to listen. Thank you for the Bible. Help me to read it. Thank you for gifted teachers. Help me to act on what they teach. Help me to make some godly friends that I can trust and listen to. I want to be open to the ideas that you place in my mind. When I’m in pain, help me to learn from it, not run from it. Most of all, help me to trust you and your plan when you’re silent. Jesus Christ, I want to get to know you and love you like you love me. In your name I pray. Amen.”
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