Moving in Silence

“When Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’” John 11:32

This story holds a special place in my heart for the reasons you would assume. In addition to my own grief after losing Beth and Daddy, this is the battle cry of everyone’s grief. On the heels of our statement, ‘Lord, if you had been here…’ we follow up in our hearts, ‘Lord, you could have and chose not to.’ Mary and Martha loved Jesus but were angry with the fact that He was silent during the duration of their beloved brother’s illness. I do not believe they ever expected Lazarus’ illness to go as far as death. They had seen Jesus perform many miracles on strangers, so they naturally expected He would perform the life sustaining miracle on His precious friend. But Jesus remained silent…He stayed away for four days until the situation was hopeless.

How do we reconcile that our Father of love sometimes chooses to remain silent and not move in ways for which we plead and beg? My Bible Study exhorts that there are two reasons for God’s silence. The first reason is that the person offering the prayer is living with an unconfessed sin. The importance of searching our hearts daily and confessing any sin that may stand between our heart and the heart of God is paramount. Once we have sincerely confessed that sin and received God’s forgiveness our relationship with God once again has the free flow of fellowship.

If we feel that sin is not at the base of His silence we must trust in faith that His silence is to teach us more of His character. Knowledge in Him is an inexhaustible resource for which we will never fully possess. Many times in my life He has remained silent on certain requests to show me a greater revelation. Personally, in the deaths of my family members He knew that I was absolutely reconciled that He could heal and save them. However, He had for me a greater service than lip service. His plan and purpose for my life involved a grief ministry which could possibly reconcile the hearts of many to the heart of God. I needed experience in my ministry to authenticate and power His plan. I do not believe that God took my family members for that purpose alone but His silence in my asking fueled many purposes in His activity in the kingdom.

When you are experiencing a time of silence, the importance of ‘being still’ and waiting on Him is essential in the life of a Christian. ‘Be still before the LORD, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.’ Zec. 2:13. Silence IS sometimes golden as the King decides when to stand and move. It is up to Him to determine the degree of revelation for which He desires us to experience to spiritually mature. Sometimes God’s silence is a delay and sometimes it is an answer. Either way He is King with or without our blessings.

Even without our blessings, we will still be blessed for He is King and Father.