Over the last several weeks, I have been reading through the book of Job. One thing that stood out to me was the absence of the voice of God in the majority of the book. With the exceptions of chapters 1 and 2, we don’t hear directly from God until chapter 38.
For those of you keeping score at home, that’s 36 chapters of silence.
Job’s home, assets, and 10 children have all been wiped away in an instant. His body is covered in painful sores. His wife tells Job to curse God and die.
How does God show up for Job? Honestly, it appears as if He doesn’t!
Ever felt like Job must have? At the moment you most desperately need to hear from God, all you hear is SILENCE?
And in the midst of the thin silence that may drive us to the edge of insanity in our darkest hour, that’s when our faith is forged. God has not abandoned us any more than He had abandoned Job, but it sure feels like He has.
When it seems like the voice of God is curiously and mysteriously absent, it is so easy to be tempted to think that the Lord has forgotten us or just doesn't care about the pain we are encountering. If I can be really honest for a moment, this feeling creeps up in me regularly, and it has for several years. There have been several hard and dark days when just a little affirming verbal cue from the throne of the Almighty would make all the difference in my world, yet I received nothing more from Heaven than the deafening sound of silence in those moments.
When God chooses not to speak, what can the Christian continue to cling to? I can't speak for everyone, but I search for His fingerprints. Even at the times when I can't hear His voice, I can oftentimes find the evidence of His Presence. His affirmation smiles back at me in the face of my wife and daughter. His love is passed on to me through an encounter with an old friend. A circumstance that is so "undeniably Him" crosses my path. Even though I don't directly hear the voice of God speaking to me, I can discover how His Hands have been guiding and providing for me every step of the way.
My guess is that some of you are desperate to hear from God. Let me encourage you to keep on hanging on even if He chooses not to speak. Even though it may seem like God is a world away from you right now, let me assure you that He is not. He loves you and cares for you deeply and even though His silence may seem cruel to you in this moment, trust that He has a purpose for it!
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