As Christians we have all been there. We pray and talk to God, and it seems as if He is so distant and silent. Or we go through a heavy trial and wonder why God doesn’t quickly get us through it and relieve our pain. I have learned in my Christian Walk that God is never really silent, but is working in the background, preparing people, places, and things to bring about something good, if we only stay faithful and patient to His Word.
In every difficult trial we face God has allowed it to happen because He has a master plan in which He wants to use your tragedy for His glory. Our role is to trust God that He will use our suffering in unique ways if we just turn them over to Him. So, rather than question God during our trial with the refrain: “why me,” I much prefer to ask God how can you use these negatives to bless others and make me a God glorifying vessel.
God has also shown me several other aspects and lessons we can learn from His supposed silence.
First, I need to examine myself and my relationship with God before I accuse God of being distant. I like what Philip Yancey says here: “When I am tempted to complain about God’s lack of presence, I remind myself that God has much more reason to complain about my lack of presence.”1 Am I spending quality time in prayer, reading the Word, fellowship, and Christian service. Chances are that if I am, that God will often show us why He might appear to be silent.
Second, I believe, that since as a Christian the Holy Spirit lives inside of me, if I am hurting so is God. Knowing this helps me realize that God has a divine plan for ultimate good – I just need to trust Him and thank Him for allowing me to be part of His master plan.
Third, we need to give God time to work out His perfect will. We as humans are an impatient lot. We want things now and for many of us patience is not our strong suit. However, God’s timetable is very different from ours. As one studies Scripture we often see the admonition that is echoed in (Psalm 27:14): “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” In many instances God is working in the background things we may never know about in order to bring about a blessing if we only trust, and wait.
And fourth, God is sovereign, and in some cases, He may never give us an answer as to why He allows seemingly bad things to take place in our lives. But even when He doesn’t reveal His purpose in our suffering we can still trust His faithfulness toward us. A perfect example is Job. As Tim Keller states: “Job never saw why he suffered, but he saw God, and that was enough.”2
1 Prayer Quotes by Philip Yancey
2 Timothy Keller quote: Job never saw why he suffered, but he saw God…