Seasons of Silence

LaVerne and I meet so many believers who find themselves in a season when God seems to stop speaking as clearly as he once had to them. In fact, many feel as if God is silent.

When God seems to be silent, it doesn’t mean that He is absent. King David, on more than one occasion, felt abandoned by God. Despite the silences, David knew he was never out of God’s sight. In Psalm 139 David wrote, “Where can I go from your Spirit: Where can I flee from your presence? If I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. . . .”

Some admit it and others don’t, but almost everyone experiences God’s seeming silences, which are often referred to as “the dark night of the soul.”

There is good news. When God seems to be the most silent is often when we grow closest to the Lord. Consider this: We usually only stop to ask directions when we are lost, and we don’t stop seeking until we find our destination. During these seasons, the Lord is training us to learn how to help others who face God’s silences. We empathize with the hurting because we have been there. We will not tell them to get their act together, but in deep humility, point them to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We have learned from experience that He will pour His life into us and give us the needed strength to prepare for the next season.

In a few weeks LaVerne and I are releasing our first book that we have written together, “When God Seems Silent,” where we deal in-depth with this topic. If you are presently in a period of silence, our prayer is that you will experience much grace from the Lord during this season.