Has God Gone Silent?

There are those who seek the Lord, there are those who do not seek the Lord, and then there are those who seek and seek and seek the Lord – and seek some more. I seek the Lord so much and so often it is a wonder He does not grow tired of me, and yet He never does. But He does seem so silent at times despite my seeking; does He ever seem that way to you?

photo in background courtesy of morguefile.com

According to the Bible, God does speak to believers in Christ. And according to scriptures, God can be found when we seek Him. So why then do we go through dry spells when it seems He simply will not speak? Why does it seem God will not reply? Why do we seek Him sometimes with hungry hearts only to be met with seeming silence?

In my own experience of so-called dry spells, these have been the reasons:

1. I did not know how to hear from God

2. My heart and life were too clogged with sin and distractions to have an open heart and ear to hear Him.

3. God had already spoken, but I wanted a different answer.

4. I was too impatient to wait, and true seeking God involves the willingness to wait on Him.

5. God was speaking to me, and I could not discern His voice and how He was choosing to speak to me.

The greatest tragedy I see in the world is the refusal to repent and believe the Gospel that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and to receive Him as Lord and to commit our ways unto God, and the second greatest tragedy I see literally all the time is that countless people who profess to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and call themselves Christians do not study the Bible and apply it to their lives.

How can we say we desire to hear from God if we dot not daily seek Him in the Bible which is His very Word? And how can we discern when God is speaking to us directly into our hearts in a specific way, or through a pastor, or through a friend, or in a dream or a vision, or in any way He so chooses, if we do not study His Word regularly and know how to recognize His voice? God never speaks against His own Word, so anything we hear that is not in line with God’s Word is not from Him.

In my five reasons for dry spells in my own experience, I came to see this:

1. I did not know how to hear from God because I was not daily studying the Bible and hearing His voice right in His Word and learning to recognize His voice when He chooses to speak directly into my heart or through others.

2. Now I go before the Lord on a daily basis to repent of whatever sins He has shown me and do my best in my everyday life to learn to live according to the ways of the Lord rather than the ways of the world. Though I fall short daily, I do my best to keep my heart and life clean which allows me to hear Him more than ever.

3. I still fall prey to seeking the Lord when He has already spoken, but when He reminds me of what He has already told me, I do my best to respond to what He has already spoken to me with repentance when necessary, with obedience, with whatever He desires. Do I fall short? Yes! But I do my best.

4. The Lord has warned me about being so desperate to hear from Him that I sometimes have fabricated an answer from Him simply to satisfy my desire to hear from Him or to satisfy my flesh rather than to wait on His godly will. He has instructed me to learn to wait on Him, even if this means I might be uncomfortable not yet having His answer or not getting the answer I want.

5. To this very day, no matter how much I study God’s Word, no matter how much time I spend with Him and learn to recognize His voice, no matter how much I measure what I hear directly into my heart or through others against the Word to ensure it is truly from God, I still find at times that I confused His voice with my flesh, with the world’s ways, or even with the voice of the devil who loves to try to sneak in there and pretend he is speaking for God. When I realize how I have failed to hear God’s voice in this way, I repent and return to Him, seeking Him again and learning to be patient and to wait on Him for His reply.

If you desire to hear from God, begin by making sure you are born again by genuine sorrow and repentance for your sins and placing your faith if you truly believe in Jesus Christ as Lord who died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins. Once you are born again, make a true commitment to study the Bible daily and to live your life according to the ways of the Lord. Grow in your relationship with God, spend time with Him, pour out your heart to Him, listen for His voice, and persevere more than anything else in seeking Him and staying steadily in His Word and in living your life to love and serve Him and to bring Him glory! 

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 

Isa 55:6  Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 

Isa 55:7  Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 

1Ch 16:8  Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. 
1Ch 16:9  Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. 
1Ch 16:10  Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD. 

1Ch 16:11  Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. 

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