WHEN GOD IS SILENT

Waiting rooms are places most of us would rather not have to spend time in, especially doctor's waiting rooms.  Minutes drag by.  You are impatient because you have better things to do and are ready to be done with this.  Or you are anxious because you are not sure what the diagnosis will be and while part of you wants to know, the other part of you wants to run.  But one thing for sure, the wait WILL end.  Sooner or later you will get to see the doctor, you will be examined and the diagnosis will be rendered.

Let's face it.  We, as humans, do not like waiting!  Whether that is in a doctor's waiting room, in a fast food line, the drive through lane at the bank or waiting in line at the grocery.  But, all of these places have one thing in common.  You WILL get through the line and get what you are waiting for.

But, God's waiting room is different.  If you have ever been in God's waiting room (and if you over the age of 12, you most likely have been), you know that answers do not always come so quickly.  And.....sometimes, they do not seem to come at all.  At times, it seems that Heaven's doors are closed and God is eerily silent.

You pray and pray and pray, taking your request before the Lord.  Yet you see no evidence He is working or even that He has heard you at all!  Is He asleep?  Is the Heavenly phone off the hook?  Is something blocking our connection?  Is He mad at you?  Lots of things go through our minds.

Did you know that this happened to men of the Bible?!  Take David, for instance, who was called "a man after God's own heart".  Acts 13:22 tells us : "God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ "  Yet David cried out to God many times and God was silent.  Take a look at a few of these:

Psalm 42: 9 "I will say to God, my rock, 'Why have You forgotten me?'"
Psalm 44:24 "Why do You hide Yourself and forget our affliction and oppression?"
Psalm 55:1,2 "God, listen to my prayer, and do not ignore my plea for help.  Pay attention to me and answer me.  I am restless and in turmoil with my complaint..."
Psalm 77:7-9 "Will the Lord reject forever and never again show favor? Has His faithful love ceased forever? Is His promise at an end for all generations? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger withheld His compassion?"

Do YOU relate to David?  Have you ever prayed prayers similar to David's?

Then there was Job.  Job was just minding his own business when the Lord bragged on Job to Satan saying "Have you considered My servant Job?  No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil." (Job 1:8) Now I don't know about you, but I cannot think of ANYTHING better than having God Himself  say something like that about me!!!  But, Satan said that the only reason Job was so good was that God was keeping evil from him.  "Stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns," Satan said to God, "and he will surely curse You to your face!" (Job 1:11)

So God gave Satan permission to do just that.  Job lost everything he had....his home, his livestock and worst of all, ALL of his children!  Then if that wasn't enough, he developed awful boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet so he even lost his health.  Job did not know what had hit him or why.  He questioned God.  He asked God what we would ask Him  if that happened to us...."WHY?!"  And do you know God's answer?  SILENCE.  At least for a while.  When He did finally answer, it was not the answer Job was looking for.  Instead of telling him why, God questioned him.  "Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. He said, Who is this who obscures My counsel with ignorant words?  Get ready to answer Me like a man; when I question you, you will inform Me.  Where were YOU when I established the earth?!"  (Job 38: 1-4)  God proceeded to remind Job that HE was God and He did not owe Job any answers.  Four chapters later, Job finally responds to the Lord, "Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know." (Job 42:3b)

But my favorite of all the men in the Bible who spent time in God's waiting room is Joseph.  And we will look at him tomorrow.  So if you are in God's waiting room, if Heaven seems shut up to you, if God seems silent although you keep praying and praying, please check back in tomorrow.  And, whatever you do, don't give up !!  God may seem silent, but I assure you, HE SEES, HE KNOWS and HE CARES!!