What Are We To Do When God Is Silent?
Good Morning Friends,
I find it a relief to know that the Jesus we follow makes room for all human emotions, and indeed has experienced all the emotions we experience. How else could He instruct us? Yesterday I contemplated the reality that at times I am impatient and that nothing really good has come from that when I am. I got that right but the thought that God might be impatient is really a bit absurd. The thought of it is enticing at first but it leads to a dead dark end. It makes God into a bit of a bully. Sorry about that. God exists beyond time. Being impatient for God makes no sense. It is irrelevant. And the more I contemplated it the more I dislike the thought of an impatient God. Where is the grace in that? Jesus was patient in the storms. However he must have experienced the feeling of impatience. He was human and being human includes experiencing all human emotions. Scripture is silent on this for the most part which is a clue to the paradox. For I think Jesus would take the emotion and quietly turned it into a learning moment. So too our friends who nudge us to a better place. So the next time I am impatient I will take the experience as a time out for a silence that might become a sound of listening and an opportunity to nudge others into the freedom of justice and healing. So today we consider yesterday’s question in a different light. What Are We To Do When God Is Silent?
Scripture: But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.
Mark 10:14 (NRSV)
O LORD, you have seen this; be not silent. Do not be far from me, O Lord.
Psalm 35:22 (NIV)
Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence. I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
Psalm 27:11-14 (NRSV)
Message: Silence is seldom desired in our society. We try to fill every moment with noise. Yet scripture holds silence in high esteem. Scripture calls us to silence. I figure that silence and solitude are essential for any disciple seeking God. And don’t think that just because we are silent for a time we are not engaged. Perhaps it is just the opposite. God is always there nudging us to learn in the discipline of listening. But sometimes those moments can lead us to self-examination and reflection and the realization that real strength is found in God’s purposes and in the Lord’s love. Here we can discover that sometimes God’s silence is our opportunity learn first before we kindly speak up. Here we discover that impatient people that become bullies are really pretty pathetic people for they share the bitterness and anger, in their hearts, by inflicting pain and damage on others. Friends, the sad thing is that people who become impatient really have no idea that by burying their God given good treasure that they are burying themselves. The emotion needs to be turned into something useful. In today’s Psalms we see a key to overcoming the problem. The reality is that impatient people are not mighty compared to God. They may be proud but in that emotion fail to really impress people, for God’s power is not manifested in their weakness. They believe that being human means possessing life and its rewards, while scripture teaches us that being human is using life and its abundance to further Glorify God. So are we on the journey to claim our gain or to become useful for God? If the later we best become more patient and best not contemplate for very long a God who we would desire to join us in what is the really the opposite of love.
Pray that the silence of God leads us to repentance. Pray that the silence of God lead us to restoration. Pray that the silence of God leads us to rely and trust more on His character not our own. Pray we realize that what we say about others reveals more about ourselves than it does about them. Pray we be more loving. Pray that while is seems God appears to be asleep it is really us who are dreaming. Pray that when the wicked seem to get away with everything we realize that the hand of God will be seen in justice. Pray that we wake up so we can do what needs to be done. Pray we never reinforce bad behavior. Pray that in the silence we look for the Messiah in faith, in love, in service turned into peace.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 