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The Silence of God

(Photo credit: uıɐɾ ʞ ʇɐɯɐs)

Have you ever experienced the silence of God?

It happens. We pray, we talk to God, we cry out to Him, and there is no response. The heavens are quiet and still. It seems our petitions never make it past our own atmosphere.

Is God ignoring us? Is He giving us the silent treatment? In our greatest time of need, is He too busy to respond to our pleas for help?

Our questions are nothing new. David struggled with this too. Over and over again. O God, where are you? Why won’t you answer me? Do you even hear my cries? Where is your voice? Where are the answers? The words of comfort? Why have you forsaken me?

Admittedly, God’s silence is often a fearful thing, frustrating, even maddening.

So are we alone when He is silent? Has He abandoned us when we need Him most?

No. Here’s what I think. A few years back my oldest daughter, in third grade at the time, got an MP3 player for Christmas. Now, she was in third grade,mind you, and we weren’t going to pay a lot for that kind of technology so she got a Disney model that did the job just fine, and she was thrilled with it. When she returned to school she was so excited to tell her friends about her new gadget. When I got home from work I asked her how her day at school was and she started crying. The other girls laughed at her Disney MP3 player because they had all gotten iPods. My heart broke for her broken heart. (Even now, five years later, my throat gets tight and tears push on my eyes).

Do you know what I did? I tried offering words of comfort, tried telling her it didn’t matter what the other girls thought, tried saying the right things to take away her pain . . . but words didn’t help. She didn’t need words. She needed her daddy to just hold her.

And that’s what I did. I kept my mouth shut and just held her.

Folks, when God is silent, He hasn’t left us alone to struggle through our trial. When no words come, I believe that’s when He’s simply holding us close and protecting us with His love. Words aren’t necessary, only His presence.

“Be still and know that I am God.”