Here’s What to Do When God Seems Silent
What do you do when God seems silent? When you beg Him to intervene in your daughter’s life, and He doesn’t. When you’re faced with a medical decision and He remains quiet. You find yourself crying out “why?”, and you are met with disheartening silence.
God’s silence can be painful, especially when we long for an answer, an intervention, for good in this world. We desperately want to hear from God and we get … nothing.
What do we do when God seems silent?
1. Rest. Find quiet for your mind and calm for your body. On the day between Good Friday (Jesus’ crucifixion) and Easter Sunday (Jesus’ resurrection), the women rested (Luke 23:56). You have permission to rest.
2. Let it out. In God’s silence, our thoughts and feelings are loud. Let them out through your words, a song, or maybe a hard workout. Two sisters, Martha and Mary both let it out and told Jesus, “If only you had been here, our brother would not have died.” Jesus welcomed these sisters’ honesty (John 11:1–37).
3. Filter. Filter your belief through the lens of Scripture and past experience. When we look to Scripture, there are clear and true characteristics of God. When God is silent, we often believe that He simply doesn’t care without remembering His character. A great place to start is Psalm 106:1. It is a clear and straightforward filter that speaks of God’s love, goodness, and faithfulness.
4. Ask. Ask God to help you believe, and to continue to align your beliefs with who He is. Ask Him to meet you in your doubt and to transform and deepen your trust in Him. Talk with close, Christ-following friends about your struggle. Their faith and hope can help and encourage you as you walk in this time of silence.
5. Serve. Sit long enough to learn, but do not stay there. Get up and get out, serving others with simple acts of love and goodness.
It can be so hard to remember that God is with us when He seems silent. In these times we rest and trust, believing He will not remain quiet forever.
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Written by Laura Murray.
