Silence in the Waiting
So often we can become so used to a story in the Bible that we skip over verses or we don’t notice something. In our Abraham series I was really struck for the first time that Abraham didn’t see the fulfilment of God’s promise for 25 years.
Abraham was 75 years old when God promised him
‘I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing’. Genesis 12:2
In Genesis 15, we see again God repeating his promise This is probably 10 years after the first mention as in Genesis 16 we are told that Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born.
Silence
There is no record of God speaking to Abraham in between the two occasions just mentioned. The next time God speaks to him, Abraham is 99 years old. Genesis 21 tells us that Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.
How did Abraham cope with these periods of 10 years and 13 years when God was silent? Genesis 15:6 tells us: ‘Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.’
We can only assume that Abraham continued to believe and to seek God.
David
Abraham isn’t the only example in the Bible of when God was silent.
In Psalm 13:1, David says: ‘How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?’
David is crying out to God but there’s only silence. In v3 he continues: ‘Look on me and answer, Lord my God.’
Have you prayed and not heard an answer? Have you felt like giving up? In Psalm 13 it sounds like David is about to give up but he didn’t. He ends the Psalm with ‘But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.’
David didn’t give up. He kept on talking to God. And we need to do the same. We need to keep trusting in the God who never fails, even in the silence.
A deeper work
As humans we are impatient. We want answers straight away. But God’s timing isn’t the same as ours. The silence doesn’t indicate a lack of listening by God. It can be a time when God is doing a deeper work in us. Maybe teaching us patience?
In Habakkuk chapters 1 and 2 we can see that God was working but not in the way that Habakkuk hoped. It can be the same for us.
God’s plans for us will come to fruition at the right time – at his command. He isn’t ignoring us when he doesn’t answer us immediately.
We need to trust God. Have faith that he will answer our prayers in His good timing. It’s impossible for us to hurry God. We need to continue to pray in the hope of a future answer.
What promises are you waiting to be fulfilled? Have you given up praying because you’ve not seen anything happen? Ask someone to pray with you to encourage you to continue praying.
Keep persevering even though you feel God is silent.
