With the constant noise and activity in the world around
us, we grow uncomfortable with silence. Many people even say that it is hard to
bear God’s silences. I know how they feel. I used to get so discouraged when I
took time to sit quietly at Jesus’ feet and He didn’t say anything to me! I
felt silly sitting there with no productive activity between us. At times, I
even thought He was hiding His face and turning His ear away from me (Psalm
102:1-7). Doubts plagued me. When I was confused about what to do
about some situation in my life, I felt like God didn’t care or love me any
more.
Sometimes, I just gave up and went to read a book, watch a
movie, play a word game or put on praise music while I cleaned the house.
However, the longer I walk with God, the more I realize that in the silence,
God is bringing us into a more intimate relationship with Himself. He finds
pleasure in hanging out with His children without any demand for talking. We
are at ease with each other and just happy to be together. He is so comfortable
in our presence that He does not feel the need to converse. He simply enjoys
our companionable silence.
Other possibilities for His silence may be that I was not
really listening (1 Kings 19:11-12), or that I harbored in my heart
some selfish motives (James 4:3; Psalm 66:18) or
disobedience (Galatians 6:7) or habitual sin (1 John
3:21-22) or ingratitude (1 John 5:14-15) or
broken relationships (1 Peter 3:1-6) or unforgiveness. Maybe I failed
to give to the poor in their time of need. If we are not guilty of any of these
deviations in Godly behavior, however, the silence is simply evidence that He
already heard our petitions and His answer is already on the way (Matthew
7:11; Daniel 10:12).
Now, all that remains is for us to meditate on His Word and
praise Him for what He already told us, did for us and provided for us. As we pray in
Jesus’ name, we pray according to the divinity of Christ within us, summoning
all of His divine power and authority behind our prayers. Since this is true,
we need to be careful to pray according to God’s will and not to pray according
to our will. With patience, we will see answers to our prayers in God’s perfect
timing (Hebrews 10:36). Until then, we can enjoy the companionable silence
God offers to us each moment of the day, without any expectations or demands
upon Him.
Prayer:
Father God, it is in the silent times that we can be still
and know Your fullness as our God (Psalm 46:10). To be
still is to surrender our will, our desires, our goals and our dreams for our
life to Your plans and purposes for us in Your Kingdom. We stop trusting in our
self or anyone but You. As we do this, we have no other recourse but to
recognize, admit and proclaim to the world that You are our God, the great King
over all the earth. When our Messiah, who is our very life (Colossians
3:2-4), returns to the earth, we will be with Him in all of His
glory and exalt His name forevermore. We remain silent before You now,
because the great Day of the Lord in at hand (Zephaniah 1:7).
Thought for the Day:
We mature to a place where we soon crave these
silent times of comfort with God, as we center on His acceptance and joy.
