Affliction: When God Is Silent

It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Lamentations 3:26

Dear Father,

I have raced way ahead of You on a fast track. Striving for the future has consumed my years. In times past my heart bulged with the things of God, but then I became busy, and I have not spent much time with You for quite a while now.

I hit the future I was aiming for. I grabbed for the brass ring and got it. I did it my way. But not only did I do it my way in my career, I also did it my way in the rest of my life, too. I have led a life that is somehow unbalanced. Now, I suspect my life is either at a breaking point or a turning point.

What I really don’t understand though, God, is that I have prayed day-after-day-after-day, and You don’t seem to be answering. Why will You not answer me? Have I slipped so far that there is no redemption left for me? I earnestly desire to turn away from the hollow and deceptive philosophies that tripped me up. But how can I do it if You won’t answer me?

I don’t think I can take the pressure much longer. Everyone wants a piece of me. I have just about completely alienated my family. I am tired. I am worn out. I don’t feel that I have the strength to fight back. My emotions are sad. When will You come and save me?

God does not bring affliction upon us willingly. He finds no pleasure in our pain. God is not the root cause of our problems; He is the solution. The reason for many of our afflictions is our disobedience to the will of God—doing our own thing, living by the desires of the sinful nature. The sinful nature leads us into good ideas that are not God ideas. One good idea leads to another, and before long we have wandered away from the Lord.

Though God is not the root cause of our affliction, He is the effective cause. Because our personal relationship with Him is God’s highest priority, He invariably afflicts the life of the one who strays. But He never does this willingly or with enjoyment. “For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men” (Lamentations 3:33). His Spirit grieves when we wander, and when He afflicts us, sorrow pierces the heart of God.

The silence of God teaches humility, creates character, and produces perseverance. When a man or woman humbly seeks the mind of God, learning to dwell patiently in the silence, God will revive that soul. He will reveal His love and compassion in the silence. His gentle, quiet Spirit cannot be heard above the roaring rapids of a raging river. He is found beside still waters.

Has God afflicted your life? Are you at a breaking point? Convert it from a breaking point to a turning point. Go seek Him beside still waters. Enter into the silence of God. Wait, and wait patiently, for Him to speak.

Is He silent when you call out? Wait quietly for Him to speak. With the Lord a thousand years is but a day. Here is your encouragement:

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;

It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.

Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him....

For men are not cast off by the Lord forever.

Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.

(Lamentations 3:25-32)

The normal believer’s expectation is that he can live twenty years pursuing the God he wanted, turn to the God who is, and twenty minutes later all the issues will be resolved. That is not how God works.

God’s business is to sanctify our lives of every alien thought. When we begin to bring thoughts captive to make them obedient to Christ, we discover that deprogramming from the secular lifeview takes as long as the programming did. It takes as long to abandon to Christ as it did to abandon from Christ.

When you are afflicted and God is silent, it is good to wait quietly for His salvation. Do not give up. He is not on the way, He has already arrived, but you must bear up until He speaks. His silence will teach you. Will you accept His yoke of silence?

The silence of God precedes the outpouring of His compassion. His great love for us is the only reason we are not instantly consumed for our years of self-sufficiency. Surrender your expectations to the silence. Wait for Him to speak. You will not be disappointed.

I SURRENDER

Dear God, the God who is, I have struggled in the silence. I have misinterpreted the silence. I have had expectations which are based on my own logic. My afflictions have brought me to the breaking point. I pray You will aid me in making it into a turning point instead. I surrender to the silence. Use the silence to create character, to teach me humility, and to produce perseverance in me. Amen.