God being quiet
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I try to talk to God with just no results. Sometimes, if just doesn’t feel like there is anyone listening.
Well, from the final events listed in the Old Testament (ca. 424 B.C.), up to the earliest references in the New Testament (ca. 4 B.C.), there is window of over 400 years. This is 400 years where, we have no record of God saying much of anything to anyone. The lack of prophetic word in this period has led some people to call this the “four hundred silent years”.
Well, perhaps God was silent…but he was not inactive. He may been biting his tongue, but he was hardly sleeping on the job. The history of these years precisely follows that laid out in the book of Daniel. So while his voice was silent, He was still very much involved.
Sometimes, I forget this my own life. I will pray and pray and feel like there must not even be a God listening to my ramblings. But, as I step back a bit and remember the course of my life, I can’t help but come to the conclusion that even in those times when it feels like He doesn’t exist…no, especially in those times, God is a close as ever.
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WOW…thanks for summing up my thought process – - I so very much needed that and will be pulling from it the rest of the week!
Thank You! So many times I have thought the same things.
Sometimes I can’t hear God or if I do I wonder if it is him or me thinking this is right. I try to pray and wait but can’t hear. You are so human but so wise and inspirational. You are a better, loving kind father than a lot of 2 parent homes. Misty would be so proud but then again you two (no three) shared a very special love with each other and God. Thanks for your website and words.
You have no idea how much I needed to read this today.
That’s a WOW from me, too. Not a minute ago I was thinking the same thing. Well, I was focusing on the, “Where is He?” Thanks for the reminder that He is very near.
thanks Darren been thinking that alot lately thank you for opening my eyes to he is real
On hearing God…
Until I came to total brokenness and repentance for the sin I was allowing to remain inside of me, I couldn’t hear God. After a number of these moments on my knees, I was able to hear Him much more.
I’m not saying this is the answer or formula for anyone reading this.. but it was/is the answer for me. Too often I would ignore the barnacles of sin that remain.. and would rationalize its existence..
I believe this is one of the reasons the voice of our Father is muffled, for me anyway. True repentance was like allowing God to finally get in there and scrape all the gunk out.. so He can reside fully in me, where He belongs. Since I gave my life to Him, I am rightfully His.
Dania,
Good comment. Often we do let things in our lives keep us from hearing God. We shouldn’t bury our heads at all…but rather we need to be serious about how we are living. I think you have hit the nail on the head for many ot us.
It is also true though, that no matter how well we live our life (as “sin free” as possible), God still has times that he let’s go without hearing much from him. Sometimes the quiet times are for our good, I suspect.
I’ve previously wondered what those 400 years were like… and how many prophets lost heart.. or who pressed in and kept right on going. It’s so easy to lose heart and sometimes it seems more difficult to keep going.. we just can’t do it on our own.. we really, truly need God’s strength and help in our faith and our lives everyday! And hallelujah for that! That He does help and promises help!
This is totally off subject – but – it startled me when I came to read the comments and saw my name at the top… It isn’t very often that you see Michelle spelled with only 1 ‘l’ – but – there are a few of us!
Something that sticks out in my mind is the time my mom asked me to pray for something – and I told her not to ask me to pray because my prayers didn’t work… She assured me that they did and told me to imagine how things would be if I didn’t pray… Now – my daughter tells me the same thing – she doesn’t think her prayers work. That old devil is such a liar!
Even in silence, the God who hears will answer!
How can we not hear from him, we have his written Word.
Brenda,
Thanks for the comment. I’m in work now, but will respond to this later.
O.k. I think this is why Valentines day comes so soon after Christmas. Why Is it…this time of year so many get in a funk. Its like we are needing something. So much hussle then the silence to reflect… and then there is Valentines day to share and seek love….Just a thought.
I have found in my own life and also have benn told by others .. not only that God hears all of our prayer but that He will answer them in His due time and by my own life and again confirmed by others that at times He is a silent God but I have found out that when God is silent we should be still and watch His hand unfold and you will see Him in all His might and glory and your prayers not only will be answered but He will do far more then we had expected..God bless you my brothers and sisters .. Tbone out
how often this needs to be said…
Yes, same here I really needed that today!!!
Great thoughts. There are times in our life that God is silent, though He is still working and comforting and guiding. Take comfort in that truth.
How about this thought…Jesus said that the Father and Him were One. And when Christ is in us, we are one with the Father and the Son. So as we are drawing closer to the Lord, His thoughts become our thoughts and His will becomes our will. The closer we get to Him, whether it is in times of deep sorrow, loss, grief, brokeness over sin,etc.the more we become one with Him and even though we don’t “sense” Him, He is one with us and we with Him. I think of it like breathing. You don’t think much about it, you just do it. Having your thoughts continually being transformed into His way of thinking. I think the intimacy with Christ is like that. Now when you have a lung disease and it is much harder to breathe, you become very aware of every breath and how precious those breaths are. So too when going through a trial…it seems much harder to breathe (sense God) but it makes one more aware of how much we need Him to make the “breathing” possible. He hasn’t left during those times…He is so deep within us making it possible to take the next breathe.
Praise God and our Saviour Christ Jesus for loving us so deeply and completely.
Darren,
As always you are to awesome for words! My prayers cont. for you and Olivia.
God Bless!
Pam and Family
My prayers are with you young man. Love Granny (*!*)
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Luke 8:15
The King James Version
ooh i like what Bernadette said, thats good stuff!
The irony in this is that it is obvious that the Lord is speaking to you, look at the responses His word has invoked. He is using you..I needed to hear this too.
Thank you for your faithfulness and trust in Him.
Hmm…. Thank you for that thought provoking reminder. I have a question. This is something I have been struggling with for sometime now. Do you think that God sometimes keeps silent because he wants you to make the decision and trust him for the outcome. I have this fear that I don’t want to really express right now, and a desire to grow in this area of my life, but it would mean taking some chances, and being stretched. The desire to take the chance and go has not subsided, it just seems to grow more and more. But I am so afraid. I know that taking this step in my life is going to require a trust of great magnitude for me. I have trusted him for so much in my life already, and I know I want to move on in this, but I keep asking God is this what you want. Am I suppose to do this? What about or what if. I keep telling him I just don’t know. I know that if he just spoke to me and said go, I would do it and know that I’m ok because he said it. And because I know he would make a way for everything. But not hearing him say anything and having this desire to grow in my life in this area more and more is really something. I almost feel or think that I have to trust him as I make the decision, My fear too is being out of his will. I never want to make choices that our out of his will. Everything is always either black or white for me. Either he says yes or he says no. I don’t think I trust my judgement because I fear that my choice could be hurt full to me. So, are there any comments to my question. Do you think that God sometimes keeps silent because he wants you to make the decision and trust him for the outcome. I know the word says, A man plans in his heart what he wants to do, but the Lord directs his steps. What are your thoughts?
Thanks,
Lavenia
Lavenia,
Your willingness to be this transparent should not be taken lightly, I don’t take it lightly. I pray that the dream you’re sharing (in part) with us on this blog would be treated with care.
When I ‘re-request’ confirmation (sometimes for the 20th time!), He always provides it. Maybe you could ask Him for just what the first step is?
I’m sure you know His voice. It is kind, it is gentle, it is humble. I’ve met you a few times at AG, and you are a light of His love.
-Dania
Darren, as you can imagine it has been really hard for me to be able to come to your site. I have not been in quite some time, since before Misty passed away. But I am very happy to say that your words are SO encouraging and I feel better having come to see whats been going on in your life. Phillip and I just recently had a conversation about prayer and how you explain to yourself and others the power of prayer when people are praying and no healing is happening. Not just about him specifically, friends of ours as well, so it was nice to see what you wrote and be reminded of what is true! Thanks for being an encouragement and inspiration to others!
Thank You Dania, your response is a blessing to me.
Love Lavenia
So I wasn’t sure when or how I would “talk” to you but, I found this rambling my “path”. I have followed you and Misty for awhile up to May. My best friend and “sister” also had brain cancer and I was absolutely sure she would be ok. A lot of her progress was similar to Misty and so, I stopped visting your web site because your reality was mine except, yours was in printed words and mine was in words (screams) echoing in my head. It took me this long to find your web site again because I was afraid, afraid that you too lost Misty like I lost Johanna and here I sit crying because…you did. I lost my sister on July 31st and was there all along too and I listened so often for God’s voice and just believed that he knew best. What I knew was when she couldn’t be who she was and was unable to adapt, he took away her frustration and pain and lead her to a place where she could be exactly who she wanted to be as she wanted to be. I just wanted to say, almost 6 months later, it’s still very fresh, very real. I grew up with her and fully expected to grow old with her and that just isn’t going to happen. I miss her. Her life, her suffering and her death brought a lot of people together and I believe we have all grown from that experience and we are better people, more caring and absolutely more understanding of how very precious life and the people gifted to you are. Olivia is fortunate to have you as a father. Maybe when God is silent, you are doing the “right” things.
Lavenia…It is so true what you had to say, because at this very time in my life, I feel just like that. There is no doubt though that we all know Jesus will do always the righr thing for us, but ya know, it is not that we really doubt He is able to answer all our prayers and direct us, but I beleive what I fear is that I will always somehow get in the way if His plan,and also I fear that the journey that He wants to take us on is not the one that I can endure! If I beleve that if we are all honest with ourselves, it would be at one time or another that we may all have that fear, which is to sum it up…the fear of the unknown.
Bernadette–Thank you as well for that perfect example of the closeness of our lives to our Savior(WONDERFUL!)