We have been going through The Story at our church but we are taking a two week break. Last Sunday Kyle Idleman, the teaching pastor at Southeast Christian Church, talked about what to do when God is silent. What do you do when you feel like God is ignoring you? Do you ever feel that way? Kyle referenced the fact that God was silent for 400 years between the Old and New Testaments (a fact I had forgotten). 400 years! Really?!!!
Kyle said this, “In the silence God is still at work. God still honors His promises, and God is still watching.” He talked a little about the 400 years and what came next…Jesus.
He also said, “The purpose of the place of silence may not be to test your faith, but our faith is always tested in the silence.” Amen to that. It’s hard to have faith, to trust in all that you know to be true, when God is silent.
I don’t know who is reading this, so I’m not sure where you are with what I’m saying here. Me? I sometimes feel as if God is ignoring me. I admit it, I do. Or maybe His timing is just off…not really ignoring me per se. I especially feel this way when I hear all the wondrous (just so you know, I’m using a sing-song voice when I said that word), things God is doing in the lives of others – though I know better than to compare…and yet I do.
There was a supervision meeting at church Sunday for those who are involved in the Care Ministry. There is a new format being implemented – other ministries falling under the Care Ministry umbrella now – so I was in a new group with a new leader. We all were, and so they asked us to introduce ourselves and tell how we came to be a part of this ministry. I gotta tell you, I normally don’t have a problem sharing my story, except this time there was someone that I know (on a casual basis) who was in this group as well. This woman had lost a child, and I had to tell my story in front of her.
I’m not sure why that intimated me, her being there, but it did. It went well, as I should have known it would, but it did bring back a memory or two that I had to deal with…just saying.
I don’t know your personal pain, Reader of this blog post, but I suffer with you. And if you feel as if God is silent while you are going through your stuff…wait…because God is still at work. He honors His promises. And He is watching.