There are many languages in the world, yet none of them without meaning. (I Corinthians 14:10)
- silence makes the heart grow fonder
- water tastes best when one is really thirsty
- deprivation, adversity, scarcity, and suffering, often produce the best character qualities in us
Job and David and God’s Silence
Job said, “I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.” (Job 30:20)
David said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.” (Psalm 22:1-2)
“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19)
The silence of God can be deafening to us when we are in desperate need of direction for our lives, for salvation for our loved ones, for Divine protection, deliverance, or provisions in the face of adversity.
You have been there. I have been there. Job faced the silence. King David groaned within his soul for an answer from his God. God remained silent.
Elijah was so discouraged, by the threat of Jezebel to kill him, that he fled, hid himself, and then asked God to take his life away!
Job, David, and Elijah saw great miraculous interventions by the hand of God. They all were used in a mighty way to accomplish great things for God, with Elijah performing many miracles that defied the laws of nature. They all knew what it was like to have Divine visitations from God and hear the voice of God, either directly or through one of God’s prophets.
Yet, there were times when God did not choose to speak to them at all.
When God is silent, when God doesn’t answer our prayers, when it seems that God is nowhere to be found – – could it be that God is teaching us to hear the voice of our own thoughts, and the voice of the evil spirits trying to deceive us? Is God teaching us the difference between His voice and all the other voices?
Paul said that there are many languages, or voices, as one translation words it, yet not one is without significance. Each one is important to the plans of God for each one of His children.
Differentiating all the Voices
Just as a child has to learn not to touch the hot stove — by touching it, and not to play with the electrical outlet — by getting shocked, we as children of the Most High God have to learn what many voices sound like, before we can know for sure the ‘still small voice’ that God chooses to speak to us in, many times, when the ‘seasons of refreshing’ seem like they will never arrive.
Yet even in our soul’s ‘dry seasons’ we can hear the voice of God by just lifting our eyes toward the starry sky on a dark night, as they cry out to all who behold them: “God is alive and in control!” (Romans 1:20)
God sent a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire, yet Elijah heard nothing; then God sent a ‘still small voice’.
I, personally, thrive on silence. I grew up in a home full of arguing and strife and saw my parents attempt suicide several times. I found solace by escaping to the woods and the silent sounds of nature. These were the times when I first contemplated about God and His creation, without having any personal encounter with His Holy Spirit.
Praying out loud, and in silence
After I experienced the Presence of God at an old-fashioned altar, I learned to pray out loud with words and in tongues of angels. I also learned to pray in silence. As years of my life have flown rapidly by, I have learned to pray silently more and more. I have learned that God shows up more often, unexpectedly, when I am in silent meditation before Him, listening for His voice.
His voice may come through a Scripture that pops into my mind out of nowhere, a thought about something or someone, a picture that flashes for a second across my mind’s eye, or God will actually speak in a ‘still small voice’ that no one else can imitate. These come when He chooses to send them, in His seasons of refreshing. They are refreshing when they come after a season of dryness of our soul. Scripture says that ‘after many days’ the Word of the Lord came to Elijah.
God withholds His still small voice and times of refreshing from His Presence for many reasons. Others will say it is because of sin in our lives, and Peter even told the Jewish people this in Acts 3:19, but many times it is just God teaching us to trust and obey when we cannot hear His voice, nor can we feel after His Presence, knowing that He is not far from anyone of us, for in Him we live, and move and have our being. Just look up into the clear night sky and you will know that His voice is heard throughout the world. (Psalm 19:3, Acts 17:27-28)
Andrew Peterson sings a song about The Silence of God. Please take time to listen to him sing by clicking on this link to his YouTube video.
“It’s enough to drive a man crazy, it’ll break a man’s faith
It’s enough to make him wonder, if he’s ever been sane
When he’s bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod
And the Heaven’s only answer is the silence of God”