When God is Silent

 

 I believe in the sun even when it is not shining, I believe in love even when I cannot feel it, I believe in God even when he is silent.” That note, written on a wall during the Holocaust, was quoted by a writer in The Upper Room (November 18).

 As I thank God that I’m warm and well fed, safe and secure, I often think of those who aren’t. Those in refugee camps, in areas experiencing famine, in war-torn territories. Yet, God is silent.

 As I watch television commercials showing children with cancer and cleft lips and hunger, I could cry. I know I can’t solve the immense problems of the world, much as I want to. Yet God is silent.

 Then there’s the mystery of God’s silence when I pray. Many of my prayers have not been answered. Others, far less important, have been answered–right away!

 Recently, I misplaced the key to a neighbor’s house. Since we’re going to be moving, I wanted to return it. I’m sure I shot up prayers now and then over the last couple weeks as I’ve searched for that key. But as I finished cleaning out my desk, I was desperate. I bowed my head and prayed for help. And there was the key. In a nook beneath my desk calendar holder, right in front of me.

 Sometimes, God speaks through others, but we tune them out. This week Kim and Janine visited their youth group members to drop off candy and invitations to church events for them and their parents. Through Kim and Janine, God was speaking to people, some who may have little interest in church. Did they hear Him?

 If we understood everything, we would be God. That’s why I walk by faith even when–especially when–God is silent. I trust the God who created the universe and keeps everything running on a daily basis. I trust this God whether the news is good or bad. Tsunamis, hurricanes, shootings. Not good. But the station on which I watch the nightly news always ends on a high note, a story of someone doing something kind, something exceptional. Is that God I hear?

 “Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, through the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation” (Habbakuk 3:17 NIV).

 Yes, let’s rejoice in God as we celebrate the birth of His Son Jesus. Let’s rejoice in the God who came to earth as a tiny babe, showed us how to live and died so that someday we may live with Him forever. Let’s hear the messages He speaks through the carols and the cards. And through friends who invite us to church.

 God may at times be silent but he’s never absent. He’s always working to draw us to Himself so that together with Him we can bless others.

 Have a Blessed Christmas!