TITLE: WHEN GOD IS SILENT
SCRIPTURE: PSALM 22:1-2 / PSALM 102:1-7
A few nights ago I was watching the news and as News Anchors were switching over quickly to one another, something did not go right. In the middle of the News Broadcast there was an inexplicable moment of silence. This is probably every Broadcaster’s Nightmare – dead air - Where the seconds seem to turn into eternity.
• We live in the midst of constant pervasive background noise
• This past week we celebrated holiday where homes filled with family and friends and lots of noise
• Celebrations with those we love
• Black Friday at Malls across the land – noise
• We are a people who have pretty much grown unaccustomed to, and really fearful of silence
• There are many I know of that go to sleep at night with the television on
• Even need noise to go to sleep at night
Whenever my grandchildren are playing quietly, which is very rare, I go and check on them to make sure everything is okay. We tell and holler at them to be quiet and stop making so much noise around the house when they all get together. When they follow our rules, and they have a period where they are playing quietly together, we grow nervous that something is not right because in essence we are accustomed to noise and silence raises a level of fear that something is not right.
Silence is particularly painful when that silence is the silence of God.
• Oh, how we would like to be like MOSES where God speaks to us all the time through burning bushes
• How we would like to be like ELIJAH who throughout his life carried on a running conversation with God
• How we love to be like ENOCH and just walked and talked with God
We have those in churches that constantly run up to us saying “The Lord is Telling me to Tell You...blah..blah…blah.” We oftentimes wonder, why, God, are you so mute when it comes to me?"
• The silence is agonizing
• Particularly when we are in agony
• When our lives are afflicted
• When we are in turmoil and we turn to the Lord for an answer
• And all we are met with is silence
Many of us, if not all of us, have experienced the silence of God. We cry out to God, and there seems to be no answer. We pray, pouring out our hearts, only to hear the words echo back without a reply. The maddening thing is that we have been conditioned to expect a direct relation between input and output.
• If we work a certain number of hours, we will reach a certain level of success
• If we place our children in the right schools, enroll them in the right programs and practice the proper procedures, they will turn out as hoped
• If we invest our money strategically and wisely, we will receive a fair return on our investment
When we cry out to God and nothing happens, how can we help but feel something's not quite right. We oftentimes suggest that the problem is on the side of God and not on the side of the Listener. One of the biggest complaints when marriages begin to fail, falls into this category:
• Few things are more damaging to a relationship than a sense of not being heard or responded to
• It's as if we don't matter
• That there is no genuine concern
• Feel like we are being ignored by our loved one
That is the exact situation in which the psalmist finds himself this morning. I would invite you this morning to see, to just see if God might break the silence as we stand on tiptoe and strain to hear His voice. When God is Silent. We all go through times in life when God seems silent. Those are the times in life when the heavens seem to be brass. In times of God’s silence, we try to pray, but our prayers may seem only to rise to the ceiling and then fall back to the floor. During the times in our life when it seems as if God does not speak to us –
• It is hard to pray
• It is hard to give godly council to others
• It is hard to persevere in the right things
• Sometimes it is even hard to live!
I am talking to you this morning about a very real part of our Christian Life. If you have been a Christian for any amount of time you know that there will come times in life when God seems silent. This is an area we must wrestle with and come to terms.
• Why does God at times seem to be so far in the distance?
• Why does God at times seem to turn a deaf ear to our prayers?
• Why does God at times remain silent and keep us waiting for what we want the most?
Don't you wish that the Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, had a complaint box? Where we could slip our complaints into it without fear of being vaporized. Well, I have got good news for you. He does, and we can. Right here in this Psalm, you and I have biblical warrant to complain to God, even about God. Can I tell you this morning that my God is big enough to take it, He can handle it. This text we are examining is the prayer of an afflicted man who pours out his lament before the Lord. Now lament is a fancy word for complaint. The psalmist is complaining to God here, and he has a lot to complain about because God seems silent.
• Because God is silent in VS. 1, the psalmist is wondering, 'God, are you even listening to all of these prayers I am pouring out to you from the bottom of my soul?'
• Can you identify with that?
• VS. 2, the psalmist wonders if God is playing hide-and-seek with him
• Those are games the psalmist does not want to play
• He has had enough of that
• He wants answers and he wants them now
• Can you and I identify with him at this point?
When God is silent you and I don’t have to be. It is okay to continue talking to God. We can complain. We can complain to God. We can even complain to God about God, and He is not going to strike us dead. God knows what is on our hearts. He wants us to pour ourselves out before Him. We do not have to hide our feelings. Right here we have Biblical warrant to continue talking to God, even when He seems Silent. Oftentimes God is speaking, we just miss it.
• Sometimes we just drown him out
• We are constantly listening to our MP3’s
• Constantly watching TV
• Constantly have earphones in not wanting to communicate with those around us
• Constantly listening to all the latest stuff
• Listen to Dave Ramsey
• Listen to Iana Change My Life
• Listen to Help CD’s
• Don’t read the Bible to Hear the Voice of God
• God's voice simply gets lost in the crowd
Well, if you read your Bible you will find that God doesn't usually speak in a loud voice. We are told that He speaks in a still, small voice; a still small voice that easily gets drowned out when we are listening to everything else out there.
• The cacophony of the world's siren and seductive voices
I am reminded of a Story:
--A man once lost his valuable watch in an ice house. All of his fellow workers diligently searched the ice house looking for the watch. They combed every inch of it, but they couldn't find it. A little boy, hearing about their search, during lunch hour slipped into the ice house and quickly emerged with the watch. All of the men were amazed and they said, " How did you find it?" And he said, " Well I simply went to the ice house, closed the door, laid down quietly on the floor, and then I began to listen. After a while, I could hear the tick, tick, tick of the watch."
That is why it is important to have a daily quiet time in the Word of God.
• Where you are getting alone time?
• Where you are getting out of the hustle and bustle of the world, and getting into the Word of God?
• Because in God's Word, He is continually having a conversation, a running conversation with us
• Or at least He wants to
• If we will let Him get a word in
• But sometimes we are just too busy to listen
Another reason that we sometimes miss God's voice when He is talking to us - is because our ears are not tuned to His frequency. It is not that He is not speaking to us - it is just that we have forgotten what His voice sounds like. So, we miss it. We are listening on a Different Frequency. That’s like God talking to us on FM and we are tuned into an AM Station, we are on a different frequency.
• At least if we are on the same Frequency we can move around dial until we find the station we are searching
• If different Frequency we can search all over to find the correct station but won’t find because different frequency
• Must make sure we are on the Same Frequency as God
I am reminded of an article in the magazine Fast Company, the chess master and much sought-after mentor BRUCE PANDOLFINI discusses how he works with his students -- My lessons consist of a lot of silence. I listen to other teachers, and they're always talking - I let my students think. If I do ask a question and I don't get the right answer, I'll rephrase the question — and wait. I never give the answer.
• Most of us really don't appreciate the power of silence
• Some of the most effective communication - between student and teacher, between master players — takes place during silent periods
Could this be how God mentors us? Is God's apparent silence the method of a Master Teacher? When I go through seasons where God's answers do not come quickly or on the surface of things - but the way God interacts with my prayers draws me into deeper trust, dependence and obedience - the answers I find radically transcend what I initially sought to find.
• I get introduced to sin that I needed to confront
• I recognize patterns of behavior I need to break
• I gain insights into who I am that I didn't have before
• I discover a depth of relationship with God that I have never before experienced
• Such revelations are worth the silence
I can only wonder what this silence holds for me. In our struggle with God's perceived silence we must take into account an idea that is often alien to our sensibilities: that a prayer was not answered in the way we wanted it answered or thought it should have been answered, doesn't mean that an answer did not come directly from God. God promises to answer every prayer; how He chooses to answer is His decision.
We often make requests that cannot be granted. But we can be assured that God's operative stance toward us is shameless devotion. Even when pain erupts, tragic events are allowed to continue or God denies our requests, we can rest assured that we have been granted a greater blessing — or kept from a deeper, more lasting pain. And God's “NO” is seldom left to itself. The answer often goes further. When Paul repeatedly begged God to remove his "THORN IN THE FLESH," the answer was "NO." But there was more: “God said to him, 'MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR THEE, FOR MY STRENGTH IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS’ - II CORINTHIANS 12:9.
• The purpose behind God's refusal and the ramifications it holds for our life are met by the direct presence and power of God
• The fullest sense of God's reply is "No, but I'm here and it will be OK. Trust me
As I write these words, I am waiting for God's guidance on a host of issues that will determine my steps for the next season of my life. My petition is clear and direct, but the complexities that surround whatever resolution He chooses to bring overwhelm me.
• The shadows are maddening
• I find myself crying out - Why won't He just tell me, or show me!
My sense is that the answer is there, but I am not ready to receive His Words. THERE IS SOEMTHING HE IS DOING IN ME THAT APPARENTLY MUST COME BEFORE HE REVEALS WHAT HE IS GOING TO DO WITH ME. So I watch and try to cooperate as He moves and shapes pieces of my life — both internally and externally.
• I'm waiting in what sounds like silence, but in truth God is on the loose
Can I make another point this morning and tell you – GOD MAY BE FORCING US TO GROW WHEN HE SEEMS SILENT. I am reminded of a text from ST. LUKE 8:22-25 – You remember when Jesus said to his disciples – “LET US GO OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE” –
• Sailed and Jesus fell asleep
• Great storm arose
• Boat was taking water and in danger
• Disciples panicked and feared
• Jesus was sleeping in hinder or lower part of the boat
• Woke up Jesus
Jesus had already told them – “Let’s go over to the other side” – Jesus spoke it, therefore; no matter what happens along the way, we will arrive on the other side. In spite of what our eyes might see, we will arrive on the other side. No matter what is thrown at us, we will arrive on the other side. Many times when the Lord speaks to us, we do not believe. When the storms come we quickly forget what the Lord has told us. Can I prove it:
• You are the Lender not the Borrower
• Blessed in the City and the Field
• You are the Head and not the Tail
• Bless us with the Desires of our Heart
In the midst of this wild storm while His disciples were panicked –
• Jesus remained calmly asleep - Calmly Silent
• Disciples had eyes on storm – Jesus remained Calmly Silent
• This was a great opportunity for the disciples to grow and learn a monumental lesson about who Jesus was!
• The disciples did not expect Jesus to calm the storm they just expected Him to panic like they were panicking!
• Jesus had another plan
• He is never going to Panic with us
• He is never going to Stress Out with us
The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, carest thou not that we perish!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.
• "Where is your faith?"
• In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this?
• He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him"
Some who are here today may feel like you are in the boat with the disciples you wish could grab a hold of Jesus and say –
• God, are you sleeping?
• Don’t you realize I am about to perish?
• Your life is full of problems and prayer request
• God seems silent
• He seems to be sleeping
Can I tell you God has a greater plan.
• Jesus wasn’t panicked about the storm
• He’s not panicked over our problems either
• God’s silence in our life will force us to grow and discover Him to be greater than we think He is!
Think of other places in the Bible where God remained silent - So people could grow in their knowledge of His awesome power –
• The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus
• Three days Jesus hung out with disciples, did not go to Lazarus while he was sick
• The Life of Job who suffered through much Death and Loss around him - God was Silent
• David who ran from King Saul and lived in caves and foreign lands even though he had already been anointed King
• Jesus on Cross when he cries out, My God, My God Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me – God was silent
• The List goes on until it reaches your life and mine
• Because God has at many times in our life seemed silent
• During those Silent times - We have been forced to grow in our knowledge of who He really is
When God is silent we are always worried that He is absent. We have His promise that He is never absent from us. That silence, is a reminder that we long for Him - that we hunger for Him - that we thirst for Him. We only hunger and thirst, and only miss what is real. A reminder of His reality.
GOD HEARS – CARES – RESPONDS. When we pray, God hears us. The Bible states in no uncertain terms that I JOHN 5:14 “THIS IS THE CONFIDENCE WE HAVE IN APPROACHING GOD, HE HEARS US”- When we pray, whether by spoken word, ritual or quiet anguish, our prayers ascend unencumbered to God's presence. But that's not all.
• When we pray, God cares
• What we attempt to convey is more important to him than we could possibly imagine
• I PETER 5:7 “CASTING ALL YOUR CARES UPON HIM, FOR HE CARETH FOR YOU”
• Notice the emphasis: God is concerned not simply with His grand plan but with our cares and concerns
• When it comes to prayer, God's empathy knows no bounds
In closing this morning - In the times when we cannot hear the voice of God and we are sure that it is spiritual opposition –
• We need to take our station in prayer
• Keep our spiritual armor intact
• Set our face to heaven
• And set our feet in the Gospel
• If you do not hear a new word from the Lord
• Just keep doing what He told you to do the last time!
