WHEN GOD SEEMS SILENT III
NOVEMBER 13, 2024
TEXT: And when Saul enquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets (1 Samuel 28:6)
In the concluding part of this teaching today, we shall briefly examine the lives of different biblical characters who faced various spells of seeming silence from God and how they reacted during such periods.
BIBLICAL CHARACTERS
✅ Job: Job, at one point during his heavy trials, felt abandoned by God, and it took special grace for him not to question God at that very point. (Job 23:2-4)
✅ Elijah: After the contest on Mount Carmel, Jezebel began trying to kill him. It took a while before God spoke to him, as, for a while, it seemed as if heaven was totally closed against him. (2 Kings 19:9-18)
✅ David: David, the Psalmist, felt abandoned and neglected at certain times, prompting him to question where God was and why He had forsaken him. (Psalm 22:1-2, Psalm 38:21-22)
✅ Habakkuk: One of the Old Testament prophets, Habakkuk cried out to God in Habakkuk 1:1-3 about the strife and violence reigning supreme in the land and how God seemed silent to his petitions regarding the various acts of violence.
✅ Jesus: Even our Lord Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry, faced a similar phase while being crucified on the cross of Calvary for the sins of the whole world. He cried out about how God had seemingly forsaken Him. (Matthew 27:46)
✅ Jeremiah: The great prophet Jeremiah also experienced this phase at a point in his ministry. He claimed to have prayed, but God seemingly shut out (rejected) his prayers. (Lamentations 3:8)
The above characters are just a few examples of those who faced spells of silence from God at different points in Scripture.
SEARCHLIGHT: God’s silence over our situation does not mean that He is deliberately absent or uninvolved. Rather, His ways, plans, and strategies are sometimes not understandable or discernible. Prayer and perseverance are usually crucial during such times.
PRAYERS: My Father, help me take the right step during my challenging period, in Jesus’ name.
BIBLE READING: Amos 5-7, Mark 13
PST. MICHAEL OMOLE
