4 Things God Is Doing in the Silence

In moments where you feel as if God is silent, ask yourself, is He really being quiet or is it how I feel because what I want Him to do for me hasn’t come to pass? Maybe He hasn’t given an answer to a specific problem or situation, but He is speaking to You about something else. Maybe you are so focused on this one thing and you can’t see the thousands of other things He has brought to pass.

Our perception can help change the outlook of His perceived silence. Sometimes it is a matter of us being too busy and treating moments in His presence as just another checkmark on our to-do list. Other times it can be that we use our prayer time as a wish list for Him to immediately bring to pass. Wherever you find yourself today, remember God is near. He wants what is best for you and He yearns to speak to your situation.

Don’t miss what He is doing while you wait.

Don’t Box God In as He Speaks in Many Ways:

God speaks in a variety of ways.

• He spoke to Moses through a burning bush (Exodus 3:1-4)
• He spoke to Elijah in a low whisper (1 King 19:12-13)
• He spoke to Mary through the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:28-38)
• He speaks through His written Word (Hebrews 4:12)

It is easy to put Him in a box because of the way He has spoken to us before; however, our Father is not confined to any one way of communicating with us. He desires to speak to us in whatever form of His choosing, we need to position our hearts and open our spiritual ears to hear from Him.

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It can be easy to equate God’s silence with a lack of care for the desires of our hearts; yet, I think our perspective should be “God what do you want to tell me?”

We can get so bogged down in selfish prayers instead of enjoying the presence of our Giver. It is those moments where we need to check our heart’s response to prayer.

We are privileged to have a direct line of communication with our Savior, but if we only approach Him with our needs and never seek Him, then we have missed the mark. When the disciples asked Jesus how they should pray, He gave them the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) as an example, which begins with worship. Hallowed be your name!

When it seems as if God is silent, I believe there are a few things He is doing for our good:

1. Promoting Dependency:

When we think our Source is silent, it points us back to His Word. When we realize He is who and what we need above all, it brings us back to our dependency on God to see it all come to pass. David shows us throughout the Psalms what it looks like to cry out to God to hear and listen to him (Psalm  102:1-2) and he follows it by showing how God will listen to him and hear his plea (Psalm 102:17).

If we will come close to God, He will come close to us (James 4:8). But we have to acknowledge that we are not in control. There is nothing we can do to speed up the process but we can trust that if God hasn’t answered that prayer yet, it is for a reason and if we will stay rooted in His word, He will reveal new things along the way.

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Once we can admit our dependency on God, it gives us an opportunity to exercise our faith. When we think He is silent and not working, we have the truth of His Word to remind us that He is always working. It is by faith that God moves on our behalf. In Hebrews 11, we receive a rundown on God’s resume through the faith of those who believed:

By faith, Abel brought an acceptable offering to God (Hebrews 11:4)

By faith, Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying (Hebrews 11:5)

By faith, Noah built an ark to save His family from the flood (Hebrews 11:7)

By faith, Abraham left his home to go to the land God would show him (Hebrews 11:8)

By faith, Sarah birthed a child at an old age (Hebrews 11:11)

The list goes on and on but should serve as a reminder to us how by faith, God is working for our good even when we think He is silent. By faith, God can turn a situation around, we just have to trust His word no matter the circumstance, and no matter what it looks like. By faith, He will meet our needs—even the ones we don’t even recognize we need.

3. Stewarding Our Worship

Worship isn’t limited to church service. We have seen the evidence of this throughout this year as many church buildings closed their doors to protect the health and wellness of their congregation. Many of us had service online and turned our homes into a beautiful place of worship.

When we worship, we take the focus off of us and place it on our Father. We reverence our Creator, the One who is in control. We hallow His name. Our worship invites a shift in our hearts to remind us of the truth of who our God is. It helps us to minimize our circumstances and maximize our love and dependency on Him.

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A sweet lady at church once told me how we only see down the street but God sees around the corner. That quote will forever stick with me because it is a reminder of how, even though I may see that the street is clear, God sees that there’s something else up ahead that He wants to protect me from.

It can be easy to think we know when the best time is for Him to bring something to pass, but He knows what’s best because He sees all the intricate details that He wants to work out ahead of time. We may not always know the reasoning but we can trust that He works all things out for our good (Romans 8:28).

Moving Forward

When it appears that God is silent, remember who He is and how He came through for you before. Remember that He is your Provider, Protector, and Redeemer. Remain confident in knowing how He knows and desires what is best for you. Take Him at His word and trust Him through the process.

Rest assured that His perceived silence should steer us back to His presence to promote our dependency on Him, to exercise our faith, to steward our worship, and give Him the space to work it all out for our good.

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