As I read through this week’s Scriptures, it reminded me of a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago. we are finishing the Old Testament and moving into the New. And it just seemed fitting to reflect on this move….
Today’s passage for Wednesday’s Word comes from the pages of Scripture between the books of Malachi and Matthew. If you have your Bible, please turn with me there.
Maybe you are flipping through the Old Testament to get all the way to the book of Malachi right now. Or perhaps you already know what passage lies just before the New Testament book of Matthew.
It is rich. And deep.
And consists of absent pages.
There is no Scripture there. From the end of the Old Testament to the beginning of the New Testament, God chose to preserve no recorded word.
He is silent.
Oh, I have no doubt that He was still active. He is always moving on behalf of His people. Always unfolding His plan and accomplishing His purpose.
But He leaves a historical blank for about 400 years. 400 years.
He is silent. He preserved no evidence of His presence for His people. No word to a prophet. No voice proclaiming His Truth. Nothing. Just silence.
But He is sending us a message,loud and clear, right in the midst of His silence.
That is our Wednesday’s Word this week.
As I was preparing for this post, I pondered what to write. Things are always busy at my house (yours, too, I bet!) but seeming especially so right now. Lots of needs. Lots of opportunities. Lots of plans up in the air. I bet you can relate.
And I thought about “recycling” an earlier post. I do that sometimes and am just fine to do so. Very often, I need to re-imprint a prior truth on my heart ! And so I scroll through previous posts to discern what to share. Totally fine doing that.
But this week, I just felt the need for something new. No bright light from Heaven or anything like that. Just an impression in my heart.
So I prayed. I asked God what Truth I needed to hear and share.
And I waited.
For days.
Nothing came.
I even remember having a seed of an idea and then it vanished. (Senior moment, right???)
I prayed some more. And began feeling frustrated that I wasn’t hearing anything from the Lord.
Maybe it would be best to just re-post from the archives. (I am not a patient gal - I relish marking things off my to-do list!)
Somehow I knew that was not what I needed to do. So I kept praying. And thinking. And pondering. And listening.
But still no answer.
Suddenly, I got the answer! The “no answer” WAS the answer!
And the thoughts began tumbling in.
Just as God recorded no new word, no revelation of Himself, no counsel or direction, during the time between the Old Covenant and the New, sometimes He is similarly silent in the lives of His people today.
I have experienced that. Probably you have as well. Not for 400 years but still, when Heaven feels distant and God seems silent, it can be a hard place to be.
This time of year is especially poignant for that. As the people were waiting in what seemed to be interminable silence, God sent His Son. THE WORD. And all that He is was revealed in flesh and blood.
So, what is there to learn and know about the times God is silent? What do we do in the waiting for His Word? How are we to respond?
Well, in no way am I going to pretend to know all He intends in His silence, but here are some things He has whispered to me…
First, when I sense no answer coming from Heaven, not even perceiving His presence, I should ask “Why”.
Why is He silent for me right now?
We know from several places in His Word that His servants often felt like He was silent. Even the “giants” like David and Job. Psalm 22:2 records David’s lament “O my God, I cry out by day but You do not answer, and by night but I have no rest”. So, when He seems silent to me, I can know that I am not an isolated case, that this is not an indication He has abandoned me or that I have never known Him. If David and Job felt this way, then I should consider myself in good company!
So in answering the “why” question, I must first examine myself. Is He silent because sin is blocking my fellowship with Him right now? Is He refusing to answer what I am asking because I have not obeyed something He already told me to do? Psalm 66:18 makes it clear that God refuses to hear me when I know I am not obeying Him about something else. This is the first place I must go when I feel His silence. Examination. Repentance. Obedience.
What if I am not cherishing sin, and He still seems silent? If I cannot hear His answers or sense His presence, the next thing for me to consider is the problem of busyness. Am I so distracted by my to do list, so preoccupied with my activities, so full of my schedule and my agenda, that I am unable to hear Him when He does speak? Psalm 46:10 says “Be still and know that I am God”. I like how the NASB translates it - “Cease striving”! Just stop. Be quiet. Be still. Quit being so busy and listen. Maybe it’s as simple as that - He seems silent because my life is too loud to hear Him. Maybe what I need is to sit with His Word and linger til I hear Him. Or ask that He would use one of His servants to speak Truth to my heart. And then ask Him to open my ears so I can hear.
Those are great responses. Beautiful truths.
But that doesn’t cover every base.
Sometimes sin or delayed obedience or busyness isn’t why He seems silent.
Sometimes He seems silent simply because He is.
What then?
Perhaps it is the deepening of your relationship with Him, similar to the way an earthly relationship moves from one of constant chatter to one where silence is not feared but rather cherished. As there is growth and maturity in the relationship of two people, silence no longer feels awkward. Gaps in conversation don’t mean there is nothing to say but instead are means for experiencing understanding and belonging in a way that words do not provide.
Perhaps what God intends to accomplish in the silence is a greater experience of Himself. To invite you to linger and seek His presence, to pursue His heart and worship His glory. It could be that His silence is louder than His voice, if our hearts are tuned to listen.
Oswald Chambers, in his well-known book "My Utmost For His Highest," says this: "When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible – with absolute silence; not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation."
Wow.
That is deep truth.
So what do we do, when we feel this silence? Trust Him. Rest in the confidence that “silence” does not mean “absence”. He is still at work on our behalf, accomplishing far more than we can even know to ask. And, He is speaking. He is never completely silent. He speaks in a thousand ways, just waiting for our hearts to ask Him for ears to hear. For our hearts to trust Him enough to wait. And to persevere. To keep doing the things we know are right, to keep practicing the disciplines of faith — reading His word, fellowshipping with other believers, serving His people, thanking Him that His presence is sure…and praying. Yes, praying. Because, remember - prayer is less about getting “an answer” from God than it is about His transforming us! So, keep praying. Even when He seems silent.
And, one last thought.
When that silence is ended, when once again, you sense His glorious presence and you hear His precious voice, how wonderful and marvelous that is! Just like Luke records for us in his Gospel (chapter 2, vs 25-38) that Simeon and Anna rejoiced mightily when God’s silence had ended, the Messiah had come! So it shall be for you and me.
Trust Him. And don’t stop seeking to listen.
Selah.