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Thank you to everyone that responded here thus far! My goodness, I’m thankful for the outpouring. Thank you all for the company in this wilderness.
Yes,I am a born again, spirit filled, Christian, but I’m also struggling with ridiculous decisions that lead me to this place of believing “I’ve done it this time”. Hebrews 10:26-31 came to mind today. Ouch!
Thank you all again, thank you for being the face of Christ when I couldn’t see Him.
M
You have great faith, it is only through struggle that we grow, and you are in a growth spert, God will bless you greatly. Hang in there.
Having more time to think about my initial contact with this site and all of your amazingly helpful words…(thank you), I think I can now articulate more clearly what I was searching for when I came here.. I’m not sure if anyone picked up on my desperation in the “why” I felt God was being silent. It wasn’t because of circumstances per say, as much as my personal choice as it relates to sin. Struggling with the heaviness of deliberate sin, I found myself wondering if there was any grace left?
I’m not sure if anyone else struggles with this, but as with most of us, I tend to rate my sins on certain scales.. when I commit some, I “feel” as if I’ve done it this time… when I commit others, I ask for forgiveness and move on. The silence is deafening.
Hi Joy,
What an amazingly appropriate name! The JOY of the Lord is your strength, remember? Be anxious for nothing the Word tells us, that is not from Him, but from the only one ever interested in stealing our peace.. it’s not personal, just his job. A friend of mine once told me to “Live IN Christ, rest IN him and do whatever I want!” LOVE IT! I understand the end of the rope, as you can read, I too was exactly where you seem to be. It ended up being a very necessary valley and I am still coming through. Be still and Know He is God comes to mind. Get yourself a million Scriptures about WHO YOU ARE IN Christ, and speak them 100 times a day if you have to. SPEAK THE WORD, IT HAS POWER, IT WILL CHANGE YOUR FEELINGS AND MIND. IT WILL ALSO DISPEL THE LIES THAT SEEM TO BE FLOODING YOUR SPIRIT. I usually “feel” this way when I have “goofed” on my big sin-o-meter. Seriously, I can stay pretty unforgiving of myself for quite some time. Then I start with the let’s “do” something so God will love me or answer me stuff. Confess whatever is on your heart and ask God to give you a new mind and renewed spirit and His eyes to see you with and His Words to override yours or Satan’s that do not line up with His thoughts toward you.
I hope you this, you just remember this.. YOU ARE NEVER EVER NEVER EVER NEVER… ALONE!!
LOVE YOU,
MONICA
Powerful stuff.Special thanks to Katherin Weston for her words,”The fact that you are in that situation..God is affirming your faith in Him”. This is my prayer for your words of wisdom. wisdom. May the all Mighty God, who made everything out of nothing,continue to use you all.May He remember you when you are in distress.May He send you help from his holy place.May His ear be always open to your prayers.In Christ Jesus I pray.”God is not unjust;He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helpped His people and continue to help them”(He.6:10).
Your brother in Christ.Santos
There are no coincidance in life, there’s a purpose for everything that happens under the sun. Let us remember that nothing happens in the universe without God causing it to happen or allowing to happen. In either case, God is in perfect control of everything that takes place in His universe, including, whatever you are going through now. Sister, to answer your questions, yes, God has spoken to me and I have experienced what you’re going through.
Let us remember that there are no new messages from God, but some, including myself, have heard the voice of God. One day while going through a very dark time, so dark, that the words in Psalm 88 became my prayer on a daily basis. The Palmist said to God “Oh Lord, the God who saves me, day and night I cry to you….and it ends with the words “darkness is my closes friend.”That’s how I felt. A deep study of this Psalm reveals, that the cry of the psalmist, is a cry of desperation, not physical but spiritual. The psalmist says to God, “my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.” Grave is the Hebrew word for Sheol-Hell. While feeling like the Palmist, I cried out to God, echoing Psalm 88.
One morning I got up to pray, as I read my devotional, this peace, this overwelming joy took control of me. As I continued to read, it became clear that The All Mighty was talking to me. He said “never be to busy to talk to me” Filled with joy I ran to the bedroom to tell my wife, before I could say a word, she said to me; “Who was that talking to you”? I started to cry, sitting next to my wife, choking on my words,I said to her; We heard the voice of God. I leave you with Psalm 27:13
Your family in Christ, Santos & Nancy.
Don’t know if I’m qualified to speak intellectually on this, but I can say I’ve been there….that counts right…
Some random thoughts…when we were in a time of our lives that felt as though God wasn’t listening someone recommended a book, Lord Change My Attitude Before it’s too Late by James McDonald. That radically changed our lives, changed our focus, got us out of the desert. God started speaking, or maybe we were just able to hear Him once our attitudes were changed. 🙂
One other thought that I’ve been pondering an aweful lot lately that relates to feeling as though ‘nothing goes right and nothing is blessed’ is that everything here on earth is so temporary: my house, vehicle, credit score, business success, etc.
A friend once said “we only have but maybe a ‘blink’ here on earth”. I imagine how short a blink is…and how whatever I do in that blink I want to matter for eternity. Whether I ‘feel’ like God cares or not, HE DOES!!! His Word says so, and His Word is truth!
Monica, I can definitely relate to your feeling that “God has turned His face from you”.
I have experienced this at different times, and I can easily say that those have been the hardest, most agonizing and frustrating times of my life. I can also confidently say, that those times are also the ones that I most significantly learned and grew in my faith. (This doesn’t make the hard times fun, but it’s easier to hold on if you can see this as a growth process and not a dead-end street).
After God healed me from a nine-month bout with depression, I could begin to understand the reality that just because God is not speaking to me, does not mean He is not listening. Just because I do not feel His presence, doesn’t mean He is not there.
James 4 says that if we draw near to God, and He will draw near to us. The fact that your situation has caused you to fall at His feet and cry “I give” shows that God is affirming your faith in Him, and teaching you to draw yet closer. Be encouraged in this.
Believe it or not, later circumstances in my life brought me to a point where I actually praised God for that experience with depression. What had once been the worst time of my life, was now a cause for celebration. Only God can do this. I have no doubt that God will redeem your suffering as well in a powerful way.
God Bless,
Katherine Weston =)
I once went through a 3 yr. period where I didn’t feel the LORD cared.
Looking back I can honestly say I was trying to use him for my will.I didn’t bother to ask what he would have me do.It probably wouldn’t have done much good anyway it was something he had to work in me through trial and tribulation.Persevere Monica, keep crying out he knows what hes doing.
When I’ve suffered, I consider the verse in Ephesians 6:13
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
I’ve often found myself unarmed when the attacks come. Reminding myself of the armour, and the order of the armour, and what it all means helps bring me closer to god.
Sometimes I feel like the goal of suffering is to not lose my ground. Not to get ahead, but just, having suffered, to stand my ground for God.
I do pray that you, Monica, will know the Spirit’s leading in this time.
We are not as alone as we think we are, it seems… For me, the Lord seems to be silent, unmoved and non-active about some physical healing I’ve been asking and believing Him for. Yesterday, I found at least some reassurance of not being alone when a mighty King from milleniums ago felt the same way. (David) In one short Psalm (70), he said “Hasten, O God…Come quickly to me….O Lord, do not delay.” I also read that Gideon thought he would die from seeing the Lord but David felt he would die if he DIDN’T. “To You I call, O Lord my Rock, do not TURN A DEAF EAR TO ME. FOR IF YOU REMAIN SILENT, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit. (Ps 28) and “Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails. DO NOT HIDE YOUR FACE FROM ME or I will be like those who go down to the pit.” (Ps 143). At the very least we have joined a good company that knows where life and peace and help is and there is no where else to turn but HIM. I agree with Hugh: God, in His committed love, knows what He’s doing and what He’s after to bring us into greater freedom and purity. I, too, struggle with wanting to use God as a means instead of the end. He faithfully addresses that with me to keep me from the idolatry of ANYTHING else than just HIM. And I had to acknowledge answers to my prayers for others. So He isn’t completely silent. As an added note about revealing our hearts, the Lord did LEAVE Hezekiah to “test him and to know everything that was in his heart.” (II Chronicles 32:31) We know He’ll never leave us, but this silence-test feels just as bad at times. But what will I do in this test? Hopefully what you are doing: fall before Him and say “I give” and let Him do His work. And it does seem that through the ages God is in the habit of doing such a work in this way. WE ARE NOT ALONE! With all that, I pray you hear His Voice, Monica. I can pray with empathy.
Monica,
I, too, can definitely empathize. I also agree with Kathy…You are NOT alone! When God is silent, we go through a myriad of emotions. We ask questions like, “What am I doing wrong? What do I need to fix in my life? Where are you, God? Do you even care?”
In the times in my life when God has been silent, I, too, have found comfort in the Psalms. David was a man after God’s own heart and he still questioned. There are words to a song that I find so true…
“Lean on ME, when you have
no strength to stand,
When you feel you’re going
under,
Hold tighter to my hand.
Lean on me…
When you get to the point that
I’m all you have, you’ll find
I’m all you need.”
My greatest advice is just to keep holding
to His hand. Don’t let go. Even when you don’t understand. You WILL find Him. You WILL hear Him again. Many times I have also cried “I give” from the very depths of my heart. Just wait for Him!
My prayers are with you!
There have been times when I don’t hear God speaking to me and in those times even His written communication (Bible) seems to mock me. I have realized lately, though, that He is ALWAYS speaking and expressing His great love, mercy and justice. Believe it or not, NOW is the time to praise Him with your whole heart, especially the bit that is mourning His absence. Missing Him and longing for Him is His gift to youcherish it (this is a choice, unfortunately) and obey as well as you can.
You are not alone.
Emily
There is a difference between being convinced that God is not listening and God actually not listening. Many times I have been nearly positive that God could not be listening (I was listening to Satan’s lies and not remembering the truth of His wordI will never leave you nor forsake you).
When I get to those times I want to give up everything I am doing, erase my blog, give up my ministry, stop writing, stop painting, stop everything. Then I remember the truththat Christ died for me and for my sins and rose so that I too could have eternal life. The very fact that I have accepted that gift means that He is very much there and very much listening and very much acting on my behalfeven when I have pulled away. He has promised that all things will work together for the good of those who love Him. If I am loving Him and longing to do His will and if I have accepted His offer of salvation, then I am free and He is following through on His promiseseven if it looks like the world is falling apart around me.
If you, like me, have accepted His gift of salvation, then you are saved and He is not only listening but He is with you. If you can’t sense His presence then there are two possibilitiesthere is sin in your life that is standing in the way of your relationship with Him or that there is a battle going on one that you cannot see and which is being waged all around you. When Daniel prayed it took 3 weeks to get an answer and in that time he fasted and sought God and the angel that came told Daniel that He had been on His way the very moment Daniel first prayed. God answers the prayer of the believer but sometimes we don’t see the results for weeks or even years (in my own life the Lord did a wondrous work in my husband which took 8 years in coming and which is far from completethere were many times when I almost gave up thinking that God wasn’t listening.)
We all have times of desert or winter and those are most often our times when we grow the most and are followed by a wonderful spring of growth. If you are in a time of testing then pray for strength to get through, He will give you it one moment at a timenever more than you need for that time. Watch for His presenceyou will find Him all around you. If there is sin then ask His help in finding it out, remove it, and ask for forgivenessHE will answer you but you need to be willing to respond in obedience. I am assuming that you know Christ as Savior based on your knowledge of Hoseathough if not, if He seems very far away and you have never accepted Him personally then that is the first step, ask Him for a personal relationship based on Jesus Christ who died and rose again to save you from your sins and give you eternal life.
Sometimes it’s us, sometimes it’s him. If it’s us, then we need to confess sin, repent, and accept forgiveness. if it’s him, I usually read Hosea or Song of Songs, seeing myself as the one brought out into the desert where he can whisper to me or the beloved wandering during the “dark night of the soul.” It’s not pretty, but I usually end up understanding the depth of the Christ more intimately. I think part of the pain here comes from a self-gratifying culture where we believe the lie that if we read enough self-help books, we can be good Christians (another kind of legalism?). we’re not good people, and we need a savior. Beyond that, we don’t need easy answers, and I struggle thru this kind of thing a lot. Aside from prayer and talking to a friend who will mostly listen, I just wait, trusting his sovereignty.
It’s just so difficult to do, but such an easy solution! I “am” on my face more, and I am seeking harder than ever HIS face. I pray “Lord, I know that you will never leave me nor forsake me, BUT PLEASE get me out of Egypt!”
I have found, through a very difficult life and more recently season, that He really is there and closer than I could have ever imagined, hoped for, or thought.
Hang in there and simply BELIEVE! It’s a choice…
I too am facing this issue. I did the same thing, actually typed that question into Google. This site came up right away. Thank you all so much, I know I have a crisis going on now and I must deal with it. God Bless you all.
Dear Monica,
I cannot but AGREE, on all that was written so far. I too, out of despair typed just a sentence on Google… I hope that the words I just read, who “ARE God speaking to YOU (to me to us) through the VESSELS that are YIELDING to HIM” will comfort you.
I don’t know what the “audible voice of God” means to us… that when we don’t hear anything, feel anything,or see anything concrete we assume that He is not there. I have a magnet on my fridge that says: “If God seems far away… Guess who moved?”. I thought I was abiding right next to Him. I too read that Sin must be between and me, sometimes “SIN” is hiden, the enemy is clever in disguising things in appealing “Christ look alike qualities”… and we go in a direction or stand here thinking “For sure, a loving God wouldn’t want me to live-think-feel-suffer like this!”
A loving Father would not, right ???
What kind of Life did Jesus lived on this earth? Didn’t His Father allow for, blasphemy, betrayal, deception and even a feeling of abandonment the night in the Garden of Getsemane… when even His best friends abandonned Him… When He asked if it was at all possible that “the Cup would pass Him”… His own Father, was standing there through it all, WITHIN… silent maybe, not intervening maybe, but Our Lord’s words even upon the Cross were: It is finished. God’s will was carried through… and eventhough it made NO SENSE to everybody… his own mother at his feet, wailing from all this suffering.
What happened out of this suffering 3 days later remains to be the best gift we could ever have.
God will restore what the locusts have stolen… one hundred folds. Let us be able to HOLD ON TO HIS PROMISES in the meantime. It looks very grim from where I am looking Nothing seems to remain of my life (financially, emotionnally, physically, family, mariage, and now even health: BUT:
I am here, answering from the bottom of my SAVED SOUL… to YOUR CALL OF DESPAIR… because through it ALL, SATAN did NOT steal, destroy or Kill my FAITH.
Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is just BE STILL and KNOW (that you KNOW, that you KNOW) that HE is GOD.
I hope this blog entry will lift whoever needs it MORE that I do.
Love in His Name,
Hang on, hang in, you can believe and get out of Egypt in 11 days… or keep running and you WILL get THERE in 40 years… but we WILL.
Because He will never leave us. Or forsake us.
Sabine
I am at a point where I feel like nothing works because I do not know what God wants me to do. Maybe he has spoken and I just did not hear him. I am at the breaking point. My flesh sees one thing my spirit sees another and yet what is his true purpose and what is my direction. I am not ready to die but do not like this life at all. I feel I am alive in flesh but dead in spirit, jsut drifting and wanting God to speak so desperately.
I too feel alone. I feel like God has forsaken me. Right now I am filled with anixety. I struggle everyday to do more, thinking maybe this will please God, but nothing works. I “m at the end of my rope. I don’t know what to do???
I HOPE YOU THIS!!!??? WHAT WAS THAT!!??? IT’S LATE.. WHAT I MEANT TO SAY WAS….. I HOPE YOU KNOW THIS.. AND REMEMBER…
KEEP REACHING OUT.. YOU WILL NEVER BE FORSAKEN.. HE PROVIDES A WAY AND SPEAKS TO YOU THROUGH EVERY PERSON THAT IMPARTS HIS LOVE TO YOU.. THIS ACTUALLY MAKES ME THANKFUL THAT I FOUND THIS SITE THROUGH THAT VALLEY AND HAD ALL THESE AMAZING PEOPLE SUPPORT ME DURING THAT TIME AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE ARE PLENTY OF US THAT HAVE FELT, DO FEEL, WHATEVER.. THE SAME WAY.. HECK, I EVEN READ TODAY WHERE MOTHER THERESA LIVED WITH DOUBT ABOUT HER FAITH ACCORDING TO HER JOURNALS.. CAN YOU IMAGINE!!!???? THAT WAS TOO MUCH FOR ME.. I THREW MY HANDS UP AND SHOUTED A BIG THANK YOU FOR THAT BEING REVEALED.. IT SOMEHOW GAVE ME AN “OKAY” THAT I’M NOT ALONE IN FEELING THIS WAY AT TIMES.. THANK YOU JESUS!!! AND NEITHER ARE YOU!!
LOVE YOU AGAIN..
M
Yes, sometimes it feels like God is silent or not listening. Our feelings are not that dependable. I like this example:
God Is NOWHERE. The way that I SEE the last word in the previous sentence… shows more about me… than God.
Is God No Where? Sometimes it seems that way. Or maybe if I open my heart… through faith… I can believe that God is NOW …HERE. Even when I don’t see Him, or know that He is at work. Open my eyes, open my ears, open my heart. Pastor George
i too google the same question and came right to this site it was God ,im going through what monica is an sometimes i feel like my faith is being shaken so hard i can hardley stand it.i ask God dont you care ,where are you,why wont you talk with me.
Wow, don’t know when this blog started, but I just googled also and found this site. All of your comments have helped me tremendously. God has been silent with me for over a year. At first, I was so busy with ministry work that I didn’t realize that he wasn’t there anymore. Then I started experiencing alot of health issues that really took me down a notch and I realized that I am not invincible. No doctors have been able to fix my issues, no amount of reading online internet stuff has given me an answer. Finally I began to cry out to God and have been for about the last 10 months. But I think God is waiting for me to wear myself out of trying to fix everthing myself. Then maybe I’ll be ready to listen. I think I’m about there. Like Mark, my flesh is alive, but my spirit is dead. This is not a way to live. I can’t live without my relationship with God. And I have finally slowed down enough to start listening. Haven’t had a choice, the health issues have forced me there. But I am worn out and ready to yield and I think that is what He wants from me.
i feel like God is silent with me i try to do my best praising him seeking him praying reading my bible doing something so i can hear him or feel his precense but nothing happen everytime i go to the altar in church i see everybody getting full with the holy spirit but me i just stand there alone without feeling God precenses i confess my sin to God He is my savior but i still i try to do my best to please him but yet i don’t hear him i been throuth depression because he is silent with me and i don’t fell him anymore or hear me even though i don’t walk with sin i sorrounded my life to God but still nothing happen i don’t understand i feel like im left alone and he doens’t care or listen seems like everytime i pray my prayers vanish on the air i just don’t kno what to do i feel fear afraid even i gave my life to God will and nothing everything is Silent!!!
i have completly opened my heart to God i said to God i don’t undestand Lord i gave my
life to you and sorrounded don’t you see that im praying to you crying out reading your word begging to anwered me but nothing and nothin i don’t know what’ is wrong and don’t know y won’t speak to me or tell me that he loves me seems he turned his precence and face from me.
Jorge,
I can relate to your frustration. Being a human being is not easy sometimes. You’re not alone!
Here’s a question that may help: what was the last thing he said to you? Sometimes the issue at stake is that we’ve not followed thru on the last thing he said to us.
i really don’t remember to be honest and right now im desperate for him to answered me so he can talk me and tell what he wants me to do.
We have to remember that God works in His own time. Sometimes it seems as though He is silent and remains silent until you are ready listen. Sometimes we seek God for an answer to a question that we have already decided the answer to and we are not really listening. However, i don’t know if this is your case. Sometimes He is guiding us with But you have it right, you do have “to give” Him everything. Your patience and trust. Sometimes it seems as though He is silent when He is really crying out for us to listen; to push everything else aside and listen. Soetimes we can’t here Him because everything else around us is drowning Him. I know this feeling well and its is not easy to listen so i pray that you here him.
even i have been through some loneliest moments in my life but all of them were worth for the joy and celebrations that i have today. always remember ” God’s delays are not His Denails” He will answer, just hold on.Ecces 3:11 says ” He will do everything beutiful in HIS time”. let us wait patiently for HIS time. HE will surely answer.He will turn your mourning to dancing.
God bless you.
Thanks for all of the great remarks. I feel encouraged becuase I am not alone. What I have come to realize in the grand scheme of God’s plan is tht what he wants from us is very simple. It is writen in His word. He wants us to love other people right where we are. It sounds a lot easier than it is! If I were to look around my lifeand at the realtionships I have I will see many needs for improvement. We look for purpose when God has given the great command of love and the great commission of telling others about Christ. I think we make things more complicated when we confuse what God says is important with what the world presents as success. You may ask what this has to do with this topic. Persoanally, my interanl sturggle came with worrying about the things God told me not to, putting importance on things He said was trivial, and puttig hope in things that have no saving power. I think many of us will be better off if focus on the words God has already spoken. They are great and full of wisdom, and if he never says anything else, he has siad more than enough. Be encouraged saints and never give up!
I have always found that when I’m in a “good” place it’s easier for me to say & believe all the wonderful things written here and to actually “hang in there”. But when you’re going through the tribulations, I’m ashamed to say it’s hard to say and believe that it will get better, hard to hang on, hard to believe all the things you say to others about passing through to see a brighter tomorrow. When you’re the one going through the trial, it sounds hollow. This year hasn’t started out “good”. I sing and love to sing, and know there are always going to be younger, better singers and in those times when I start feeling “jealous” of their talents and successes, I end up with a sore throat and can’t sing. It’s in those times, I feel God is punishing me by taking away my voice, punishing me for being so insecure, instead of being so grateful as I usually am, for the beautiful gift he’s given me. In those times where my voice is gone, I always wonder will I ever get my voice back again, it is SO scary and then I start to get depressed even more. What’s worse is to know there are other’s worse off and somehow I am unable to rise above my own problems, when in comparison to others, they are insignificant. Consequently, I get drepressed about my own childish self-pity! It’s a vicious downward spiral and it’s hard to get up again, no matter how many times I heard and read that it will get better, it’s hard! I do thank God that you can “Google” anything and find other’s that feel the same as you do and read and re-read these forums and eventually start to get some comfort from them.
I don’t know who wrote this but I found it once on-line and this seems to help me.
“Tell me not why I must suffer. Assure me only that I suffer for Thy sake.”
‘Suffering comes to enoble man, to purge his thoughts of pride and superficiality, to expand his horizons. In sum, the purpose of suffering is to repair that which is faulty in a man’s personality’.
That no matter what you feel or what happens, God does exist and He deeply loves you. No matter how awful things become, no matter what happens, we can never be separated from God’s love.”
Thank you all for your insights.
Sorry to post again so soon, but just found this on line and actually, this seems to express my feelings sometimes.
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The Bible outlines several reasons for suffering: It can develop character and spiritual maturity; it can provide opportunities to share faith; it can correct sin; it can prepare for comforting others; and it can bring glory to God. Yet, such knowledge may be meaningless to the sufferer. Knowledge doesn’t always soothe. Quoting Romans 8:28 repeatedly hasn’t removed my questions. I haven’t found any pat answers or fast fixes for the problem of suffering. More often, the only meaningful prayer for me and suffering friends is, “Why, God?” And in that desperation, my prayers are often anxious, furious, or miserable. I certainly don’t approach God with trust and peace. But faith doesn’t grow if I try to fake it. Instead, those moments of emotional rawness are the times I’m most receptive to hearing God out. I need to pray honestly: “God, I have no idea why you’re allowing suffering. Frankly, I don’t trust your plan right now, and I don’t see any good coming from this pain. But I do recognize you’re God: You fully understand the purpose of human suffering. I’m glad I can unload my frustration and confusion on you. Please use these events to teach me and others.” When I pray honestly, I rarely receive my desired answers. God’s never shown me suffering’s ultimate purpose. He simply allows me to wrestle with the “Why?” question to expose my hurt and mistrust. And I’m starting to realize that to get to real faith, I need to start with real doubt.
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I’m afraid to look back at the initial date when this blog was started. Seeing however that I am one of those who googled anything just begging God to speak and ended up here, I figure it’s worth writing something into because God is speaking here, that’s for sure.
Thank you all who shared. It was nice to know that I am not alone and I am normal for feeling like this and that all I have to do is hold on and hang in there. Frankly, I’ve stopped crying out to God for anything else other than to hear “no more!” I just don’t feel that I can take it another day and I’m dreading tomorrow if nothing changes today. I want out so badly that I have no clue what’s happening around me until something changes.
I’ve been questioning if my request is perhaps selfish, misguided or crazy all of which it isnt. In actual fact granting my wish could bring peace to a whole lot of other believers. I came across an article that pointed out the agony that was felt by Jesus (blameless) and his followers on teh cross and that he too died without an answer to “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” It was absolutely comforting to understand how much Jesus understands my emotions at this moment. And humbling too. That Jesus went through this feeling of rejection, blameless as he was. and finally, very encouraging, the rewards of persevering, staying through to the end. What greater good has anyone on earth ever done as compared to teh redemption of all mankind? If my reward at the end of this is the smallest fraction of this kind of result, it will be huge and now, I can dare to wait in hope and the knowledge that God didn’t abandon Jesus and has thus not abandoned me despite the fact that all feelings and observations indicate that he has.
I hope you can all find encouragement and that we can all stick with God, grow and love enough to win souls for Him, always.
i too google searched the same question and that is where i come in contact to your site. i read really encouraging statements and these have encouraged me coz i know i am not the only one going through this. i now am focused in trusing in God and waiting on Him, but perhaps most importantly beleif in His promises; THAT I WILL NEVER LEAVEW YOU ALONE! thank you Jesus for your revelation
I HOPE PRAY THIS WILL HELP SOMEONE, MAYBE GOD IS TEACHING YOU TO LISTEN AND BE SENSITIVE TO HIS UNCTIONS NOT JUST HIS VOICE. THE LORD HAD GIVEN ME SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS CONCERING A FAST HE WANTED ME TO COMPLETE. I DID AS I WAS TOLD AND I KNEW EVERYTHING WAS ALRIGHT IN MY WORLD. I BEGAN TO SEEK HIM FOR A SPECIFIC FINANCIAL NEED. I WENT TO GOD WITH THE ANSWER HIS WORD. I PRAYED IN FAITH AND PRAYED IN THE SPIRIT. THEN I WAITED TO HEAR INSTRUCTIONS. TO MY SUPRISE I HEARD NOTHING BUT COLD DARK SILENCE. I FELT LIKE I HAD BEEN CAST OUT INTO UTTER DARKNESS. TWO DAYS PASSED, FINALLY GOD SPOKE “HE SAID THE FAST I PUT YOU ON CAUSED YOU TO GO TO ANOTHER LEVEL. DO YOU REMEMBER DURING THE FAST I UNCTION YOU AND IT FELT LIKE A SLIGHT NUDGE. I VERY SOFTLY TOLD YOU TO PRAY IN THE SPIRIT YOU SAID WITHIN YOURSELF I AM TIRED I’LL LAY DOWN FOR JUST A SECOND AND THEN I’LL GET UP AND PRAY. YOU WOKE UP SEVEN HOURS LATER. YOU OBEYED YOUR FLESH INSTEAD OF ME. YOU IGNORED THE HOLY SPIRIT AND GREIVED HIM. I TOLD YOU DONOT GREIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. YOU IGNORED HIM AND HE IGNORED YOU TO TEACH YOU NEVER TO DO THIS AGAIN. I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU AND I WILL NEVER FORSAKE YOU.BUT,I WILL IGNORE YOU SO, I CAN TEACH YOU TO BE SENSITIVE TO THE UNCTIONS AND NOT JUST MY VOICE. THIS IS CALLED INTIMACY”
I thought I was crazy for typing such a question into a google search. Then when I actually found something, I knew I was desperate. I have, what I feel, is a very strong, deep faith. In the worst of times, and I have had many, I have not felt like God gave up on me. I have never been a person to pray for insignificant needs and usually not of the material kind unless necessities. My life is on the edge right now. My faith has gotten stronger and I have professed it louder than ever. But it seems the more I ask, now beg, God to please intercede before it is too late to make a difference the more I feel His back is turned. I know in my faith, in my heart, in my head God is there. What I cannot get around right now is that I have made all the lemonade I can and I have waited with all the patience and belief possible and yet I cannot get the help I need from Him to find a way to survive. Is it possible to pray too much, too hard? I am more than willing to accept God’s answer, His will, His time but time is running out before help will matter. That is my heartache – that I will have kept my faith strong, given it all to God, continued to not only believe myself but to share and reinforce others and yet I will not survive. I know, and want everyone to know, that in our darkest times God is most definitely with us and all we can do is give our life to Him and pray. What I ask is your prayers, please. As I try to prayer for unknown needs of others, I now am asking the same. Please keep me in your prayers and maybe God will hear us all shout together. Thank you all for you postings. They may not bring the answers but they brought comfort.
God Bless!
From a sermon I heard this week:
The author C. S. Lewis had been married only four years when his wife, Joy, died of cancer. The Lewis’s were very much in love and Joy’s death was almost too much for C.S. to bear. CS Lewis plunged into a deep depression and did the only thing he knew to do: he wrote. During that time he filled up several journals, which were later compiled and published under the title,
A Grief Observed.
After the death of his wife, C. S. Lewis’ unwavering faith was called into question.
It seemed to him as though God had been present in his life until catastro-phe struck. Soon after wife’s death, Lewis wrote these words:
Where is God? When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption, if you remember yourself and turn to Him with gratitude and praise, you will be or so it feels welcomed with open arms.
But to go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find?(in the mist of his depression and no answer) A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting (lock)and double (dead-bolt)be bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You may as well turn away. The longer you wait, the more emphatic the silence will become. . . . What can this mean? Why is God so present a commander in our time of prosperity and so very absent a help in times of trouble?
As C. S. Lewis began to come out of his grief after his wife’s death, he wrote these words in his journal:
“I have gradually been coming to feel that the door is no longer shut and bolted. Was it my own frantic need- that slammed it in my face? The time when there is nothing at all in your soul except a cry for help may be just the time when God cant give it; you are like the drowning man who can’t be helped because he clutches and grabs. Perhaps your own reiterated cries deafen you to the voice you hoped to hear.”
(A Grief Observed, pp. 53-54)
I suspect our pain and suffering are so loud we might not hear God if He did speak. Maybe it is not that God is silent as much as our troubled heart make us deaf.
Seeking a word form God,
Larry
Oh, I forgot…..
When the concentration camp in Auschwitz was liberated by Allied troops at the end of World War II, the following words were found written on one of the walls inside the compound:
I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining.
I believe in love even when I am alone.
I believe in God, even when he is silent.
Job 35:10 None say where is God who gives songs in the night.
Maybe we just have to sing in the dark until we get an answer.
In <><
Larry
Thanks for these thoughts, Larry. Profound.
In our time of weakness God gives us stength. These postings are our strengths to let us know that we are not alone in this fight. I stopped by the inspirational section at the store and I was reading a book and the author says that God does not move by our every request, he sets an appointed time for everything. I am so out of patience with God so much that it seems like I am loosing it, every direction I turn its seems like there is a curse on me. What we need to remember is that all thats good and perfect comes from Him. When I am crying out to God in my desperate moments thats when I hear from him and thats when I hear his voice says do u want something thats not so good, something that is imperpect. Let us have patience I know its hard and I cant believe its coming from me but let God fix it perfectly for us. And as someone said from one of the postings he told us to do something and we did not do it we did what we think is right for us. God told me at one time when I was looosing my job not take a job offer I was getting because it would not be right for me. I said u must be kidding me I need this job it pays more and futher more I am loosing this job how will I pay my bills. God said to me dont u trust me to provide for u, but alot of times we rubuke the devil when it is God speaking to us because I truly thought that God would not want me to take a job paying good money. Believe u me I was so unhappy in the job all the money I was getting did not make a difference, I started to pray for God to get me a new job now fora year now and I am still waiting, all because I did not yeild his voice. He told me to leave the job a few months ago and I questioned him and he replied to me dont u trust me so I had to gave up the job.I am still praying but he is a perfect God and he gives us all perfect love. We have to obey God’s voice at all time because we will deal with it. God told me not to take the job and I did not listen. He speaks to us but pride and self gets in the way and he has to bring us back to the place where we can bow before him and acknowledge him. Remember his grace is enough for you and all thats good and perfect comes from Him. I am going through but God gave me the strength to write this and give comfort to someone. My faith is so small but somehow I had the courage and strength to write this. God bless you and strengthen you through these difficult times.
Two years after the first post, I, too, Googled, and got this site. After reading the posts, I feel that I know many of you because you spoke to exactly where I am right now. I almost copied Mark’s post (# 15) to remind me that I am not alone. And I think maybe that’s part of the suffering loneliness. It’s teeth-gnashing enough to go through this silence, but you also have to carry the added load of not having anyone who understands (or cares, for that matter). Furthermore, you realize that the only one who can give you any real help happens to be the One who doesn’t seem to be talking.
Here are a few things that help me regain perspective when I get too self-absorbed (a whole issue in itself) in my search for hearing from God.
1. David, after he was anointed to be king, spent 13 solid years (correct me if I’m wrong) running from Saul who was trying to kill Him. Many of his psalms are desperate cries to God for help and deliverance. However, he remained faithful to God.
2. Joseph was thrown in a pit by his own brothers, sold as a slave, unjustly put into prison and spent y-e-a-r-s there. Talk about it looking like nothing’s working in your life and yet, he maintained his faith and excellence.
3. There was a period of about 400 years between the Old and New Testaments with NO record of God saying a word. That means many people lived their whole lives without hearing one word from God. The gospels show that people were still faithful and waiting for God.
3. Whether I ever hear God speaking to me again or “feel” His presence, He is worthy to be worshiped. His worthiness trumps my problems every time. No matter what I’m going through, I can lift my hands and praise His name.
4. Hearing nothing doesn’t have to keep me from living a circumspect life, planting kingdom seeds, or helping people in need. Scripture has already directed me to do those things.
5. This life is not about me; it’s about Him. My job on Earth is to advance His Kingdom. I believe as I invest myself in His Kingdom, He will do His work in and through me whether or not I can sense it. Maybe the deeper walk of faith is the one that simply believes that God is working in and through you without having Him give direction all the time.
An important verse to reflect upon when God seems silent is Hebrews 11:13. Essentially it says, “These are died in the faith NOT having received the promise”…..When nothing confirmed the promise of what became our Jesus they prayed every day as if that fact was just thata fact. And it was. And it is. Today.
Time has a different way of applying itself to life when the Master Time Keeper is viewing it.
Thank you, thank you!
That’s all I can say, after reading all these entries, I sure do not feel alone any more and I sure do not feel stupid any more for feeling that God is silent. I know now that there is a reason for this, thanks again.
Thank goodness im not the only one who is expirinceing this. Firstly I would like to thank all of you for your comments, it has given me comfort. I ve been waiting to hear what God for 1 year. It has been extremely hard for me i can feel his presence but i cant hear him and i have been asking myself whether it’s “sin” “unforgivness” etc but none of those. It hard becuase i ve explain my situation and noneone even people who are close to me which is sad and they dont understand what I going through. Some days i feel like to just want to break because its seriously getting too much for me. Im tired of people assuming things when deep down i know it’s not true. This may sound crazy but in all of this I praise God during these hard times i have learnt that there is true comfort in God when you feel like breaking and his comfort was more than enough for me . “Any relatioinship involes some times of closeness and times of distance and in a realationship with God no matter how intimate the pendulum will swing to the one side to the other side, that when worship can sometimes get difficult. This may not apply to everyone but i have found out during these times its a way to strenghtening maturing your relationship with God. I have completely opened up to him I may not hear him now but he can direct you to scriputres in the bible. The bible has been a great help to me it has everything you need, “I read the bible i see myself through God’s eyes” and i have decided to not just read his word but to mediate on it and apply it to my everyday life. I have a few scrpiture i would like to share Psalm 37:1-40, James 1:19-27, Psalm 86(the whole chapter), James 4:1-8.
God bless you all God will answer all of you and will meet your need just hold on to him. Thank you 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 thank goodness i found this it made me a feel a bit better now.
People don’t appreciate what they have until they loose it.
If God’s presence be lifted off around you for a minuit, ask Job in the bible he will tell everything you wanna know. God is all present, all knowing, all powerful and completely in control at all times.
Ask Elisha, whose servant thought God was unconcerned and absent when they were surrounded by enemies, and Elisha requested that God open his spiritual eyes, his servant was able to see thousands of Horses & chariots of fire waiting for Elisha’s command. When God is speaking, He is teaching, when He is silent, He is also teaching When He is absent or present, He is teaching. Familiar with this quote, “carest thou not that we perish” The disciples asked Jesus while He slept in the boat and a storm hit. Of course He cares, He was in the boat with them. He is our present help in trouble. In Jesus name AMEN!!!!!!
People don’t appreciate what they have until they loose it.
If God’s presence be lifted off around you for a minuit, ask Job in the bible he will tell everything you wanna know. God is all present, all knowing, all powerful and completely in control at all times.
Ask Elisha, whose servant thought God was unconcerned and absent when they were surrounded by enemies, and Elisha requested that God open his spiritual eyes, his servant was able to see thousands of Horses & chariots of fire waiting for Elisha’s command. When God is speaking, He is teaching, when He is silent, He is also teaching When He is absent or present, He is teaching. Familiar with this quote, “carest thou not that we perish” The disciples asked Jesus while He slept in the boat and a storm hit. Of course He cares, He was in the boat with them. He is our present help in trouble. In Jesus name AMEN!!!!!!
A FEW MONTHS AGO, MY PASTOR SPOKE OF THE BOOK EMBRACE BY GRACE AND IN HIS SERMON HE SPOKE OF CALEB, AND HIS TWIN BROTHER JOSHUA. HIS SERMON’S MESSAGE WAS HOW WE AS CHRISTIANS ARE PERSECUTED. I HAVE HAD A HARD TIME TRYING TO FIND THIS BOOK. I AM SURE I WILL EVENTUALLY FIND IT. IT IS SO SAD FOR CHRISTIANS TO BE PERSECUTED. I KNOW WE ASK GOD FOR MANY THINGS, AND AFTER MUCH PRAYING FOR PEOPLE, IT WAS TOLD TO ME BY MY OLDEST DAUGHTER, THAT WHEN PRAYING FOR SOMEONE, PRAY THAT THEY HAVE A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, AND THE LORD WILL THEN HONOR YOUR PRAYER, BECAUSE WHEN YOU FIND GOD, ALL THINGS ARE ADDED….SO ASK FOR SAVING GRACE AND FOR FAITH. I PRAY THAT THESE BROTHERS COME OUT LOVING GOD MORE, WHICH FROM WHAT I HAVE READ, THEY DO. DON’S LETTER IS VERY UPLIFTING AND IT IS A TESTIMONY OF WHAT WE HAVE TO DO. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ENCOURAGING WORDS, I AM SURE YOU HAVE UPLIFTED MANY A PERSON, AND THAT IS WHAT WE ARE CALLED TO DO. GOD BLESS YOU.
I wrote on this blog a few months ago because i was expiriecning a rought times in my life. But this has the been my best year of all.
God can be silent for a number of reasons. At that time i thought everyone was against me and i thought God wasnt hearing me. I can tell you i wanted to run crazy because i tried to live a righteous life, but at the times it seemed like was going now where and i wasnt moving . i isolate my self from people and just wanted to hear from God only.
God doesent hate anyone he loves us sooo much gen 3:1 (God man and said that it was good. I dont like facing problems and especially silient treatment but if you sincerly go to God he will listen to you. Sometimes we want answers from God so quickly when were in a pinch, i still think like that, sometimes he answers quickly sometimes he doesent. I its hard to listen to this but PLEASE wait on God he is soo faithful . he is listening to you and knows what you are going through and it will not be in vain in Jesus name. I had to wait 1-2 years to understand how God was speaking and i am still learning how to hear from him. It was very long but i learned how to value and respect God for who he is now, there many reasons why God may be silent too many to list down, But if you sincerely seek God like a teasure he promises that you will find him but it dosent say WHEN he speak, answer in the bible. This also taught me to read my bible more often because thats how Gods also speaks too throught his words Romans 12:1-2. Allow the word of God to manifest in your life everyday and it will have an impact on everyday living. People may be wondering when will that be, be paitence and wait on him he will not fail and let you never let you down Psalm 46:10.
=) =) =) =3 =3 =3 =3 =3 =3 =3 =3
Phillipans 4:1-12 , Collosians 3:16, Hebrews 12, Jerimah 17:32, Psalms 72
God will bless you sooo much because as you continue to love him even thought when life is hard because it shows that you will continue to love God when when things are rough.
Psalms 100:1 and Jerimah 8:10, have joy because the joy of the Lord is your strength dont allow anyone to tamper with your Joy, and thanksgiving, God s love when a person is praising him at AT ALL times yes i know when you dont feel like it, it is very hard but when you do that it is a sacrifice unto God because it cost you something and will reward you for being thankful and obedient.
God’s purpose in everyones lifes is different for everyone. When we are in problems we are so overlwhemed by the issue even myself that i forgot that God is the one in control of my life. Try not to allow problems overwhelm the minds again Rom 12:2. Our minds is a very powerful tool if we take in Gods word and prophesy it into your life it will come true because it is the word of God and God cannot life, thats why i like to read the bible because i see it as a manual of living day to day like ( daily bread =3).
Also it reminds me of the scripture that we are the clay and God is the potter if you look at the potters job the potter has tools , methods of shaping glazing and even goes into the fire. If you at a good potter and when they are forming their sculpture they tend to cut remove from parts of the clay the process of forming a desirable image is like God forming us he removes and molds you into what our were destined to be. It can be painful but in the there is nothing more when someone has fully mold themselves into Christ.
God bless you all God will do a great thing in your life and you will never forget. He will do even greater and soo much that even your blessing will be as many as the stars in the sky.
this is amazing. Praise God for this. i also typed in google the same question and some of you all. it doesnt get me out of the woods, but it definitely encourages me. thank you all and thank You Lord.
I am saved (by grace because I believe). I have been a believer and a follower all of my life. Now, I struggle with the same feeling that God has somehow left me. I, like others on this site, typed in a google search “what to do when you feel God has left you.” I have so much emotional & spiritual support around me, but it does not seem to be working. I feel very very alone. I appreciate all the messages others have left here, as they helped me today. But I am so afraid that I am headed for a deep depression.
Any other help is appreciated.
Mia,
I am Danielle from the comment above yours. I’ve been going through a similar process as you. Fortunately, a very good friend of mine gave me a few verses and reminded me that I am not the only God does this to (turns His face from). Look at Job 23:8 and Matt 27:46. God turned His face from Job and even Jesus for a time. I don’t think it us for us to know why He does it, and I am certain that it pains Him more to do it than for us to experience it, but it’s definitely a testing and growing of our faith. When He turns His face or is silent, will we still believe? will we still obey? will we still read His word and continue to draw close?
I understand the depression aspect as well. Remember that with depression we take our eyes off God and put them on ourselves or our surroundings/circumstances. If God never speaks to us again while we’re on this earth, we can hold fast to the hope that we will be face to face with Him in heaven for eternity.
Hang in there. I’m right there with you. I got my OneYear bible about 2 weeks ago and decided no matter how I felt about my relationship with God that I believe He is who He says He is and that every word in His book is true, and that I am going to read daily anyways and stand at His door and knock until He answers, and I’ve been so blessed already for it. God IS GOOD!
Chuck Smith’s “Effective Prayer Life” is a magnificent and helpful tool. I’m reading it along with my daily reading and the two combined are blessing my socks off!
I want to say thank God for all of you that wrote after my writing request. Don and Danielle, you will never know how your words have lifted my spirit and encouraged me. I thank God in heaven for leading me to this website and for the courage to reach out. He has truly used each of you to help others. He has spoken to me through you and reminded me of who He is. I am crying tears of joy as I type this. May God continue to bless you as you help others along this journey.
Wow! I to Googled “When You feel like God isn’t Listening” and this site came up. Amazing. I was feeling desperate because I felt like God wasn’t listening to me and I couldn’t feel his presence. The comments above have given me so much peace and comfort. I believe the Holy Spirit is within every word written here. He lead us all here for a reason and I just praise God for every one of you who have shared your experiences. You have no idea how valuable each and every post is to the life of someone like me, who needed this word so desperately.
It is so easy to quit and just want to handle things on our own when we feel this way. Just the fact that we continue to endure the pain we feel without looking back shows us that we are growing spiritually. We are showing God that we trust in him and his direction for our lives. That’s growth. Satan tries to convince us we are worthless, we are not forgiven, God has forsaken us.. but those are all Lies.
I think the problem is that we all live in a “fast food” “fast service” culture. We expect everything quick, fast and painless. And we bring that sort of thinking into our relationship with Christ. And when we don’t get what we want, we begin to panic and question our salvation. God is God. He never changes. We have to remember that he is not our Genie and doesn’t grant our wishes whenever we wish. He is a God who is trying to Change our hearts and lives so that he can bless us and fulfill his perfect will in our lives. Not ours. We have to remember that he is changing who we were. We have to remember that we have formed habits and feelings and have involved ourselves in things that don’t have anything to do with the perfect will of God. We have to change our minds and hearts. We have to seek the Kingdom first before we ask for that new house, car, job, relationship, healing whatever it is. We have to seek the kingdom first. Believe it or not, this page has helped me come to this realization. I have to seek the Kingdom first. My own needs should come AFTER I seek the Kingdom. I have to remember that I am not my own. I am Christs, for he bought me for a price. I am to live my life for Christ and Christ alone. I have to deny myself and allow Christ to lead me. Lord, Help me deny myself and allow you. Praise God.
Thank you everyone! And to those who are reading this.. You are not alone. Christ is with you.
God bless you all! I googled & landed on this site and i know it was NO accident, i was weeping when i got to this site but my spirit’s been lifted and though i,m born-again, i needed you guys to realise i’m not alone besides God spoke to me thru most of your comments. I’m blessed to know i have other brothers/sisters in Christ with such faith & perseverance.
help me someone please. i don’t feel like i am going to make it. i feel so alone. oh, how i love Jesus and how i believe that He loves me. my whole being, physically mentally spiritually and emotionally is numb. this is too hard for me to bear and i for the first time in my life really wonder if He cares, if He’s there. death seems to good. help me please
maxamed cabdi saleenab oo ku noola magaaled hargeis ee casimad somoalailand
Hi Katriana, don’t give up as long as you have life God is working out his Will into your life. I empathise with you,Ihave been there. No hope, trials upon trials, still going through trials, ruin in my life, but there is no one else to look to. The Bible says: If our hope only lies in this world, we are men most miserable. Look to Jesus, don’t stop praying and crying out to him. It says pray without ceasing, have other stronger in the Lord pray with and for you. Call other ministries to pray for you in agreement. I have learnt the Christian life is a daily denial of self,looking to Jesus to direct my steps daily, don’t take your eyes off him, when you do,you will feel lost and bewildered. The Christian life is fighting the good fight of faith. His eyes is stayed upon Him, he will keep in perfect peace. Read your Bible daily, get the word of God in you, that is what is going to keep you. I am learning through this great trial I am going through, is constantly trusting and looking to Him, not my circumstance,no matter how real it is. The cares of this world will drag you down, having your eyes on Jesus will give you peace through the storm.
I was on the train recently reading C.S Lewis’ “Screwtape Letters” and actually made an audible sigh when I read this. I hope it helps you too.
The context is Screwtape (a demon) is giving his nephew Wormwood advice on how to deal with the human he’s been assigned. The human is experiencing the “silence” of God in a dry period & Screwtape attempts to explain to Wormwood what to be aware of …
“He leaves the creature to stand up on its own legs – to carry out from the will alone duties which have lost all relish. It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing into the sort of creature He wants it to be. Hence the prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best. We can drag our patients along by continual temping, because we design them only for the table, and the more their will is interfered with the better. He cannot ‘tempt’ to virtue as we do to vice. He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased even with their stumbles. Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which ever trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”
Heidi – thank you for posting that! that solidifies the decision I made in my heart to do just that, obey and continue pursuing Him even when I don’t feel Him near. Praies the Lord! He is good and His love endures forever!
Heidi, thank you so much for the references from C.S. Lewis. The entire blog has encouraged my disheartened spirit. He is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother. Sometimes it’s hard to sense His love and concern but I know He is teaching me to hang in there when there seems to be no outer manifestations of Him. Due to the effects of a mysterious illness I have felt unable to go on many times in recent months but somehow day by day I choose to do the right thing anyway. He will honor our commitment to Him. I loved the post regarding singing in the dark. I have learned many songs through this dark night. Thank you, Seth. I no longer feel alone.
Why is God silent with me. I suffer from memroy problems..i have for years im 27 years old ..i have a hard time functioning i have a hrd time taking care of myself ad making good decisiosn for msyelf..i have asked God continuously for his help gudiance and i dont get an answer i have asked him to change my heart..why is God not answerng me..not leaing me to a good docotr can help with my condition not giving me any sound advidce..no holy spirit guidance ..nothing i feel like giving up my faith and that it is a waste of my time for somoen who doesnt even care and has left me in the admist of darkness and pain..any answers would help
I googled ‘when God is silent’ and it lead me to several sites and to this one. Wonderful comments here and Natasha please check out:
http://www.elmertowns.com/books/online/When_God_Is_Silent%5BETowns%5D.pdf
and
http://www.kyria.com/topics/spiritualformation/prayer/2.44.html
I hope these links help someone. They gave me a bit of hope. Its tough when God is silent – assuming you’ve done away with unconfessed sin and all of that other stuff- when he’s just silent.
I prayed that God healed a friend of mine who has problems with prostate. I asked God to heal him so that when he goes for the next visit, the doctor will have good news. But apparetly he was told there is no change. Do not know what to do anymore. this is the second time the doctor telling him there is no change and being given more stronger drugs. Don’t know what to do anymore.
Thank you all soooo much!! I have been walking with Jesus for 13 years now. And by the grace of God, I have helped plant several ministries and churches. And recently, my wife abandoned me with our 3 kids and it has devastated me. I have felt like I am losing my mind. I have felt like God is sooo far away. I have wondered if He is mad at me. I have wondered if perhaps I blasphemed the Holy SPirit on accident. I have been sad, angry, confused, lonely, doubtful. And in this time of my greatest distress ever, it has felt as if He is completely silent. I have wanted to pull my hair out of my head literally. And tonight, these blog postings made me feel sane for at least the moment. Thank You all for sharing. i don’t feel so alone. -Blessings
Thanks to everyone above for your insiteful comments. I’m not in the silent place right now, but I’ve been there before, several times. So many amazing and relevant points are made here, but I will try to spin it yet another way for the benefit of any future readers who may yet still be in the middle of something different.
When you come to the silent place, there is not one answer that applies to everyone as to why you are there, or why you do not hear from God. There are many possible reasons. I like the advice of others here to recognize first that God is sovereign. That was something Job understood at first, but still needed reminding of later.
Sometimes Christians assume there is unconfessed sin. As in the story of Job, we can see this is not always the case.
My greatest desert experience was in a time of my life I was serving at a church six days a week. I gave everything I had. Yet I felt spiritually dead. I came out of this particular experience when I learned that I could do nothing on my own strength, which is what I was trying to give Him. It was in my weakness that His strength was made perfect. After recognizing that, I came into a renewing time, realizing a deeper walk, and new gifts of the Spirit.
Sometimes I have no trouble hearing His voice on behalf of other people, but I have a hard time getting anything at all for my own life.
The funny thing is, this can be a form of intimacy. Like when I ride in the truck with my earthly Dad, and we go for 30 minutes or an hour without saying a word. We’re not ignoring each other. We are just so at peace in each others’ presence, that we don’t need to talk.
Other times, I’ve prayed for things that didn’t go the way I wanted or believed they would. Remembering God’s sovereignty in these times is important. God is in control, and will do what He wills to do. We get to play along, but ultimately he makes the final calls.
Recently I had a revelation that God’s silence had been moving me. It was drawing me into a deeper walk, and causing me to hunger for His will in my life in a deeper way. I found that the rules of “church”, and what we think we need to do to live the Christian life, sometimes deviate from the message of Christ. When the rules of church start to become more important that the grace and truth in His message, He will draw His presence from us until we come out of this place. He actually causes us to hunger for and chase after Him in a new way, a new revelation.
Mind you, he does work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. I can even look back and see how He protected me before I was walking with Him.
If you are feeling the silence of God, don’t despair. Press into Him. Be real with Him like David was in the Psalms. Tell Him how His silence makes you feel. Let Him know you want to hear from Him. Read your Bible, especially the red lettered words of Jesus, if your Bible shows that. Lean into Him and don’t give up. Expect Him to speak to you in new ways, if the old ways stop working. Re-evaluate things from a different perspective if you are stuck.
Depression stinks, cancer stinks, and so does all the brokenness in this world. We know everything is perfect in Heaven. Jesus tells us to pray, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven…” He wants that perfect will to come into the earth, just as it is in Heaven. The tension here, is that we are living in a time where his Kingdom has come, but it has not come in it’s fullness, which is reserved for the second coming of Jesus. As long as you have invited the Holy Spirit into your heart, you have access to the full power, and at times you will see His Kingdom come right before your eyes. I was healed of a back injury myself. But I still live with other ailments I’m waiting for His healing on.
There’s not one answer to why. But there is one God. And He is with you. He will never abandon you.
Great insight, Steve. There’s not just one answer. Thanks for taking the time to share.
Wow, it is comforting to read all the comments on this site. Like so many I to was just throwing out my heart desire to the Lord on yahoo and I landed on this site. I have to say that I am very much encouraged.
I feel sometimes that the Lord owes me..do you? I mean I know this type of thinkimg is in error but, its how I felt this morning. When my twin brother died in 07, I hung to the comforting scriptures of Gods word and I continue to hang on to this moment. I continue to stay active in ministry, visit the homeless and call the ederly to see how they are doing. I mean the list goes on..but here lately I have focused much more on the quality of my relationship to God and not so much at the “service to people” of what I do for His namesake and I feel, at times, like God is nowhere around-although I know that that cannot be true! This is truly a faith walk!! I feel like Paul in Romans ch7..
Thank you all for your comments I read this morning- I really do not know what I shared,(smile)but I just know that I am back in faith after reading the beautiful comments!!! Please keep it up!!
I’ve felt the same way before. Specifically before I went on the World Race and God broke me of so much performance issues in my life. In college I was super involved in ministry and sharing the Gospel a lot, and I definitely felt like God owed me something because of my “devotion” to Him.
The Race was huge for me, specifically understanding that God is far more interested in me KNOWING Him then me doing anything for Him. All the service is great and necessary, but if that becomes the focus then we are missing out on the the whole reason for life. Self-righteousness and pride can begin to take over.
The passage of scripture that changed my life on the subject, was Hebrews 3:7-4:12. God has been waiting for us to enter into His rest since He rested on the 7th day. Our duty at all times should be to strive to enter into that rest, and we let the Holy Spirit move us into action and service THROUGH that rest. All the while never losing it.
This is a huge thing, we won’t ever be able to experience deep intimacy with the Father until we can rest in His presence as a son, and trust that we don’t have to perform for Him. So our works flow out of relationship and love for Him, rather then proving ourselves to Him.
Thanks everyone else for your comments! This is so encouraging!
There is becoming more truth that the bible is stuff *borrowed* from other religions like the cross is borrowed from hindu.
Actually I believe God has to do with brain wave patterns which is why each of us *sees* god in a different way since if God is made up of energy then he has to respond to us THRU energy and what is the energy he responds audience?
Audince: The telephone? NO YOU IDIOTS! BRAIN PATTERNS!!!!!
Some of us are not wired to hear the *voice* of God which explains why some atheists cannot even stand hearing the name God because their brain energy signature is different though that is NOW excuses for harrasing churches just because they or we cannot connect to a loving *God*.
Yes I admit that I cannot connect to God but I can ask God to use others to reduce bad luck so the worst case scenario does not happen.
God may be silent at times but is not still. God is in control of everything that happens in this life and it is our job to put our trust in him. I think that God hears our pleas and answers them in his own time. Sometimes the answer is “NO” because he loves us. I believe that God will answer our prayers as long as what we pray for will not hurt us or take us away from him. He is our heavenly father and only gives us his best. He does not want to see us fail in this life but he is more concerned with our souls for the enternal life that Jesus Christ promised to give us if we believe that he died on the cross for our sins. I wanted to share something that I read, a quote that stated: GOD WORKS THE MOST WHEN YOU SEE AND FEEL IT THE LEAST.
I have been really struggling to hang on to God lately. Four months ago my wife decided she wanted to separate after 5 years of marriage. This was my second marriage and I loved my wife very much. I was completely broken hearted when this happened and I am still struggling to know what to pray about anymore. I want so very much for God to restore my marriage but the evidence that this will ever happen is nil. I am very discouraged and feel abandoned by God. I really feel alone in this.
Does anyone have any advice?
We all feel at times that God has abandoned us when things or circumstances in our life are out of control. There are those who feel comfortable in stating that when these things happen it is God’s will. God’s will for us is to trust him during these tough times.God never wills anything bad to happen to us. God stated that he would never leave us nor forsake us and this is what you need to hold on to. There are times and events in my life even in the present that I find hard to accept and want to give up on God and his word. But it is those times that we have to pray harder and put forth what ever faith we have in him and he will do the rest. Trusting God is one of the hardest things for me to do when I am faced with adversity. I will admit that when I look back at the adversity and how God handled it, it was for my best. Please keep on praying about your situation and understand that if your marriage does break up trust that God will give you the strength to overcome this. May God bless you and give you the strength to over this situation.
Thanks Frank.
That is good advice. I have tried to trust God with whatever outcome knowing that He has my best interests in mind. its difficult to let go of and to stop praying for restoration however when one still has deep feelings for the person who has left. I pray God will look after me and lead me where He desires.
Take your cares, your dreams, your hopes and desires and hand them over to God and ask Him to fill your heart with His dreams, hopes, desires and wishes. His are always better than ours. I pray for and with you. God bless.
Awesome words of comfort here!
Wow, it’s so nice to know, and very comforting that I am one of MANY people who are going through what I am right now. A DESERT!! It’s also nice to know that I’m not the only on who Googled the question about “When God is Silent” – and got some deep insight. God can, and WILL use the internet to encourage and strengthen His children!!
I know that I am called to the full time ministry, and have been trying unsucessfully for the past three years to get out of my desert, and into the promised land of that career, with much frustration and tears, as it seems God will just not let me out!! I guess I need to learn the lessons of more total dependence on Him (the fear of the Lord) in all areas of my life, and BELIEVE Him that the desires He gave to me will come to pass.
Thanks for sharing everyone! God is good, and He is faithful!!
Wow! I too did the search but I have known all along that I couldn’t be the only one experiencing this. And like always the first thing people want to say the cause is SIN, may I remind you all of Job’s friends… And to the one who asked what was the last thing you remember the Lord saying (well the last thing I heard clearly is:) There is a day coming when people will cry out to me and no matter how hard they cry out it will seem as though I am not there! Little did I understand that at that moment that I would now be in this agony and I mean agony! He brought me up believing I could do nothing without Him and to this day I believe it, so what is one to do? I have a question to all of you who have come forward here cause I think we all now that not many have the guts to be open about this, heaven forbid we are no longer hearing from God the way we once did. My question is this, when you all were coming up in the Lord, DID HE SPOIL YOU when you was a child in Him? He did me, and there was many times I felt as though He told me that I was a big girl now and had to learn to walk and stand on my own. All this 3 years ago my friends. I have stayed up for at least a week with no sleep weeping and crying, not because I didn’t feel like He was there but cause I know He is always there but with no interaction. The pain I feel is worse than if my husband has gone off to fight in a war from which the chances of His return is almost impossible, I can not express the pain I feel in my heart. I have to say though even though He is silent, I think it has a lot to do with knowing what real faith is. Like everyone here I have searched my life for sin, for as we all know (all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God)but I also know He is faithful and just to forgive my sin. At times I even feel it could be that He wants me to get to a place that I know that isn’t how He deals with me anymore, knowing that it is a simple belief in Him that will see me through a time that is coming and is now here with so many lying spirits speaking to people and claiming to be god. In a way friends we are actually safer this way! We are truly walking by faith and a true knowing that He is God, not because of hearing Him and all the so precious and special things we share but because we KNOW HE is God! It will make us strong so just don’t lose your faith!!! And don’t get to hurt or upset with Him I know it hurts but He still loves us very much and come to think about it, it probably hurts Him as much as it does us! I will close saying this and I am sure you will all know what I mean (((I MISS HIM SO MUCH)))!
It is so good to see the love and support among God’s children! I have been a Christian all of my life and over the years have gotten used to hearing His voice or “feeling” His guidance. I got so used to it, that when my world fell apart (and I mean fell apart) this time last year I truly expected God to show up and deliver me immediately. Not only has He not shown up (at least not in the chariot flying down from the sky to deliver me miraculously from my trial type of way that I wanted Him to)but all He says to me is “be still”! What!? When you need a job to pay bills the last thing you want to hear God say is “Be Still”. I must say however, that I do know that no matter what trials we endure, God says “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the LORD. Thoughts of peace and not of evil (calamity) to give you an expected end (a future and a hope) Jer 29:11.
God is doing an amazing thing right now in these last days, calling out His true soldiers. Ones that won’t compromise truth or give up when the going gets tough. I saw a commercial for “Surviving the Cut”, a show that highlights the intense training one must endure to be considered worthy of being a member of the highly honored special forces. The commercial says, “Brutal training…of the elite forces…to find the best…you weed out the weak…surviving the cut”. In tough times, no matter how much you feel like giving up, or that God isn’t listening, those that love Him, love Him too much to walk away. God wants relationship, not religion. I don’t know what tomorrow holds. I could lose it all. But I love Him too much to EVER leave Him. I love Him because He loved me first; so much that He died a brutal death for me. I owe Him all!! Never give up on God. We’re just in training. Let’s pray for each other. Let’s continue to bless Him and encourage each other in Christ’s unmatchable love…By the way, I have been out of work for a year and have suffered no loss or lack. I’m not saying it’s easy by any means, but GOD IS GOOD.
Kimberly, Thank you for posting that! What a blessing and an encouragement you are. I went thru the silence for a while too (see earlier post) and learned SUCH a lesson through it. I learned that no matter how I feel, I am to stand on the truth of God’s Word, the promises He makes to me like the one you mentioned in Jer 29:11, and OBEY. I am to obey in spite of my feelings. God is so good!
I praise God that I still get emails letting me know when someone posts on here. It is an encouragement and reminder to me.
God bless!
Thanks Danielle. It’s so refreshing to find support and strength through the uplifting words of others going through the same thing! God also spoke volumes to me through Isaiah 54. Felt like that whole chapter was meant just for me during this time!! God bless you in all His abundance…smile.
Hi God has been silent to me for over two years now. Talk about depression and hopelesness its me. I was saved for many years and then sinned in the most horrible wy. I am a failure. I miss God and I have no joy or peace all this time. i am beyond depressed. I have tried everything for the Lord to come back into my life. I have been cut off, I even had a dream about it. I am trully sorry for the things sins i did but I come to realize that I might actually have been cut off from God. I dont know who to cope.
Dearest Lisa (Post 90) –
I read your post, and my dear sister, my heart truly goes out to you. And while I understand that you may think that God may have abandoned you because of past mistakes and sins, please let me reassure and comfort you here. Our God says in His Word that He will NEVER leave us nor forsake us, and that NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING can separate us from the love of Christ. Furthermore, it says in the Word at 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins, that He is faithful and just of forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This means, that after He has cleansed us, it is to Him as if we never sinned. The Word says that He has removed our sins from us as far as the east is from the west.
It sounds like you have already turned and repented of your sins, and asked God to forgive you. If that’s the case, then no matter how bad the sins were Lisa, it is removed, cleansed, and forgotten. THAT my dearest sister is how powerful our Savior’s blood is!!
Knowing that, don’t let the devil lie to you by telling you that because of your sins that God no longer listens, or will give you what humans call “the silent treatment.” God is simply not like that.
During a season of grave sin in my life, God never quit talking to me. Even at times when I wanted Him to leave me alone and stop talking to me, He never did. This is just to say Lisa, that God certainly cares about sin, but be assured that even sin is not as powerful as God’s love and concern for you. He will NEVER give up on you.
May I suggest that you might be having a harder time forgiving yourself, and in your self-condemnation and hatred, you have convinced yourself that God won’t speak to you?? Spend some time in the Bible. Read the gospel of John, and other passages to reassure you of God’s presence and love for you. His Word in the Bible is just as good as hearing His voice in your inner man. His Word is His will for you.
Be blessed my sister, and forgiven and encouraged!! God loves and cares about you!!
Lisa,
I want to pass on to you something that our Papa told me a couple months ago. He stopped me one day on my way home from work and said “Katie do you know why I created you” of course I had my run of the mill answers, but then He answered His own question. “I created you to be loved, by me”
YOU were created to be loved by the Father. That was and is His number one purpose in your life is to love you. It is such a gift that this love comes in so many dimensions. I remember walking through a period of silence while I was on the World Race. The first thing I did was question what I did wrong and how I had failed. Of course when God didn’t answer my questions I was even more upset and was sure I did something that silenced our relationship. I was blessed enough to have been given a sermon by Graham Cooke called “Manifestation and Hiddenness” (its great if you are interested in listening to it). It was after listening to that sermon that I realized how much God loved me by being silent.
God was giving me an amazing honor to grow in wisdom of His character and who He is. He was giving me an opportunity to seek out deeper who He is and His nature through the stillness and silence. He was growing my faith even more because I had to make the choice to believe that through this silence and stillness He loved me, was always there with me and wanted the best for me. I had to choose joy, life, encouragement each day when I felt sad, lonely or upset. Eventually the season ended, and honestly I feel like a contributing factor was because I CHOSE Him everyday even when He didn’t feel present.
Lisa, I encourage you in this season you are in to chose joy, love, life. To remember that He is always present, He has not cut you off, and He is so excited to teach you new things in this time. Dive deeper into Him, love Him and I know He will present Himself to you in ways you never imagined once again.
So much love!
Aimee,
Thank you for your comment. However I was saved for 15years and then sinned horribbly, I lost my mind. I beleive that I was turned over to a reprobate mind at the time. Although all I have been doing is seeking Gods forgivness i beleive that it is to late for me. Heb 10:26, and alot of other scriptures speak to me now that I dont belong to God because of the series of sinns I committed 2 years ago. If i were do do tem before i was saved I would ne ok but I did them after I was saved and walking with the Lord. I did not heed to the speaking of the Holy Spirit. Although I am really sorry for my sins thre seems to be no help or hope for me now. I am and have been spiritually dead. Life is depressing with out God in it. My faith is gone and i dont know what to do. I am glad things worked out with you. Things are very bleak to me. Totally hopeless. I made shipwrecked my faith. I have had spititual nightmares, i am toumented day and night with no way out. I failed and do not obey God and I am suffering for it now and will also be in the future. I dont hear Gods voice at alll anymore and His word doesnt comfort me either. I wish I could turn back time but I cant. you could e-mail me if you want.
I’m sorry darling Lisa, but I couldn’t disagree with you more. The reason being is that 1 John 1:9 is an epistle. This means it was written to the CHURCH – to believers, not the unsaved! Therefore, it is this scripture that the Body of Christ runs to when we sin. Let me also say, ALL of us in the church sin. We ALL miss it. If we didn’t we would have no need to continually rely on Christ on a daily basis. Also, in God’s eyes, there is NO sin greater than another. A “little white lie” is just as bad as rebellion and aggressive disobedience in other areas. Nowhere in scripture does it say that there is one sin bigger than another, or a sin so big that God can’t and won’t forgive it, with the exception of blaspheming the H.S. which you clearly are NOT doing if your heart’s desire is to be in fellowship with him.
Lisa, I am going to be frank here: You are in pride. Here is why. By saying that you are beyond God’s forgiveness is in essence saying that the AWFUL price that Jesus paid for your sins wasn’t good enough or powerful enough to cleanse and forgive you. I’m sorry sister, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Jesus’ sacrifice was enough for you. If you think it wasn’t, you are still being deceived by Satan. You are believing what you want to believe over what God has clearly stated in His Word. If you repent, and ask forgiveness, you are clean. Period. You are never forgotten nor forsaken. Period. Any other belief or thought is what the bible calls a vain imagination, that you need to cast down as such.
Your problem is that somehow you want to hang on to your guilt, and ypu are finding scriptures and incorrectly dividing them to hang on to your guilt and depression. No idea why. Only you know the answer to that. But until you accept God’s Word and forgiveness over your own thoughts, feelings, and theories, you are doomed to remain in the state you are in. My advice is to believe God over yourself. God gave His only begotten Son for you in order to be able to talk to you every day. As a believer, the curtain was torn for you so you would have free access through the blood of Jesus. My advice is, stop trying to sew the curtain back together in vain. Enter into the holy of holies, be washed again in the Blood, and be free!! Blessings.
I know how that one feels and I know how it is to miss God. Truthfully, He really misses you too and wants your company back. He knew when He first saved you how you would fall afterwards, and yet He still saved you and forgave you and He is massively willing to forgive you again. It cost Him too much to achieve that in Jesus to pull back on His mercy now.
Trust Him. Turn back to Him again and let Him love you, let Him forgive you and let Him have you again. He’s your Lord, listen to Him. His heart is still for you and He knows you.
This was on a devotional I got this morning:
Immersed in Grace
Posted: 14 Jul 2011 11:01 PM PDT
“The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad.” Psalm 126:3 NKJV
You have not been sprinkled with forgiveness. You have not been spattered with grace. You have not been dusted with kindness. You have been immersed in it. You are submerged in mercy. You are a minnow in the ocean of God’s mercy. Let it change you!
God doesn’t cut you off, that’s a lie of the enemy. Ask God to break that lie in your life and believe Him when He says you are welcome before Him, that you are still His child and that He still very much wants you. Your feelings of guilt may tell you one thing, but the facts are that His word is unbreakable and He is for you. Depend on His character and His word, not on your feelings in this.
Take your eyes off yourself and your failures. Look at Him again. Look at Jesus on the cross and remember how far He was prepared to go to win your forgiveness and your love. He’s not given up on you, don’t give up on yourself or on Him. He is greater than that and His love is bigger than that. Get your Bible out and read about His great mercy to you again and realise it’s okay to come home, He wants you. He’s your Lord, listen to Him. Believe Him.
Much much love to you,
Carol xxxxx
You site is a great help to so many Christians I am sure.I feel completely lost I love the Lord and want to serve him alone I have walked with him for about 50 years and about 2 years ago I was wanting to catch up on the news on TV it was very late about 11pm the TV was on the wrong channel and there was a programme that I didnt watch I only saw about half a minute of it as the TV takes a while to change channels. The programme sent a message of doubt to my mind about the Lord I would never think like this and got on my knees and prayed forgiveness I didnt realize it was an attack from the enemy and I was very tired I had been shifting an Aunts furniture.I went to bed and had to get up in the night I couldnt get this out of my head.I have asked forgivness and feel so cut off from other Christians and the Lord,I would never want to offend The Lord I have had lots of prayer and feel I am outside Gods will I had a voice speak to me in the night and it was awful I phoned the mental health line as I had been on prozac and sorequel I had thoughts that were so un Godlike.I know its not me I have had deliverence for my bloodlines and had the Church elders pray and anoint me.I have lost my joy and Hope I would love to feel God and know he is still there. Bless you all.
Kingsley, this is an attack from the enemy. I will do the only thing I know to do and that is to enter the spiritual battlefield withyou and intercede on your behalf. God bless you and keep you. We are His. Romans 8
Thankyou Danielle,I forgot to tell you I suffer from OCD and bad words and thoughts come to me and the compulsions are so bad I scream out at times they come at me in all sorts of places when I am in the garden or doing the shopping I awake in the night and have them sometimes.They are words and thoughts I would never say I just have to keep sayoing thats not me and God understands. Thanks Kingsley
kingsley,
I just wanted to say even though it seems that God isn’t there (((know that He is))) and know that you will find your way with Him again! There are many reasons this kind of thing happens and it really isn’t for any of us to say for sure why as far as (what seems to be distance) between us and God. I noticed you did mention feeling like you weren’t in the will of God. Just keep seeking my fried and you will find His will for you in your life. It could be that is what He is up to, getting you searching all areas in your life including the way you walk, talk, think, what you do or what you don’t do… This isn’t always because of sin in our lives but a way to get us to dig deeper in our walk. With me it was simply not feeling like I had to submit to a drunkard who is my husband. Turns out in submitting to what I thought was a drunkard was actually submitting to the word of God, not that God was judging me as a bad person but wanted to make me have a better understanding of what was actually taking place. I learned I was actually letting go and trusting God to deal with the things I could not change. Once I did submit to the word of God and try to win my husband by my conduct in true heart felt love of God after 4 weeks I began to see small miracles happen. He still drinks but at least the mental abuse has stopped. And more than anything I truly have found the love that God and our Christ wants us to have for our members of the body of Christ. A much deeper understanding of (Love thy enemies)! In acting out of love I was actually sacrificing of myself as well which put me directly in Gods will. So you see without this drunkard in my life whom I thought was my enemy I never would have sought so hard to find my way kind of in the same way the Jews were broken off that we could be drafted in. So you see I can now whole hartedly say I can love my enemies. I couldn’t begin to tell you the understanding that has come to me after my journey in the wilderness (3 years)…
Im really more than glad i came across this site when i felt i had nowhere to turn to get some understanding to why i couldnt hear from God.I needed someone to explain the reason why this was happening.I was starting to freak out and angry why God was silent when i needed him…(i felt quilty for having days of doubt being a believer)then i googled looking for help,i got on this site and all my anger just left me as i started reading from people feeling the same way i felt.Thanks everyone for your comments because it was a blessing to me,to know it does happen and it will pass.Just knowing that even thought i couldnt hear from Him,my daddy is still here with me and im not alone.(he is not angry with me for letting things get to me sometimes when i know better)not having a job is not so easy to deal with everyday going on 2 years now.
Even though my storm is not over yet,now im 100% certain it will soon be.For as long as i got the lord with me he will get me through it..
He will NEVER leave us nomatter what(how amazing is that)Im sending all my love to everyone out there having a silent moment..dont believe the lies that God is angry at you for watever reason because He LOVES YOU UNCONDITIONALLY!!even if you cant feel him aroud or hear from Him,he is there guarding you along the right path..im sure all the pain or loneliness we go through will very much be WORTH it when he is done rebuilding us.
Please just hang it there and take it each day at a time.The Bible says No one who waits upon the Lord shall EVER be disappointed.His word remains the same.You can trust Him and His word always.God loves you too much to leave you alone in your dark moment.It may seem like its taking a long time but as you learn to lean and depend on Him,he will become your everything and there is no greater relationship than the one you will have with your CREATOR..!Stay Blessed Everyone..!Lots of love to all my SPECIAL people.
It feels like im part of a BIG family here..we got eachothers back..SOLDIERS in the army of God..so y’all my new family!!
Hello all.
I wasn’t going to comment until I read the quote about Romans 8:28 not helping, or comforting…due to the way its been used in the church as a “pat” answer.
I couldn’t agree more, but we must remember that God’s word goes way beyond our own understanding of it. The church has misused Romans 8:28 to give suffering people a band aid hope that God will work out some generic, ambiguous “good” out of their sufferings (and lets be honest…some things that we call sufferings because we are so often…spoiled brats)…
Anyway though…
I believe wholeheartedly that we have done this powerful passage and thus God a disservice. We see this and other verses like it as a promise for “the good life” and when God doesn’t deliver as we think he should…we are very dissapointed in Him…and sometimes we “break up” with Him like a bad date. Why? because we are not reading the word as it is read but as we want to hear it. Look at verse 29. Romans 8:29….its tells us God’s ultimate plan for us…the destiny He designed for us…the “GOOD” He desires for us.
Its not some ambiguous human measure of good. It is the good…the best He can make OUT of us. Gold can only be refined by fire. Its time for the church to stop looking at their lives like their own property. Time to stop throwing around cliques and misunderstandings of God’s will that dissuade, discourage and dissalusion His people.
There is or was something really dumb & struggling inside of me that I couldn’t touch. My life dried up and God became silent. Unimaginable fears and horrors took hold of my life and I begged God to take my life. I prayed for the strength to resist the urge to take my own life. I have to believe that God is purging a dark, dumb, stupid spirit out of me. He’s taught me not to call other people names and is teaching me not to judge others. I left the church, hating commercialism, gossip and snobbery in the church.
I became very confused. It seems I’ve lost the ability to form bonds with people and I can’t handle social relations on any scale other than one on one (and that only with certain family members). All I can do is trust that either God is doing a necessary work in me or if He’s cut me off, that it’s for His eternal purposes and better for everyone else. God does cut people off by the way. I don’t want to hear about how no one is ever cut off. In the New Testament we are warned about being wild olive branches and about how God can cut us off. Instructions are given to elders to reject a person after the 2nd admonition, considering him an heretic. I don’t know what all is wrong with me but I have loved the name of Jesus and rest in His purpose. If I’m to be destroyed what can I do about it? My soul belongs to Him, not to me. He can do with me whatever He likes. All I pray for is freedom from fear. I quit trying to understand.
I think of Nebuchadnezzer and how he was humbled and learned to give honor to the God of Heaven. He ate grass and grew claws and feathers. Saul was rejected by God and committed suicide, Esau sought salvation with many tears but God hated him. These scriptures tormented my soul. Jezebel spoiled her husband, persecuted the prophets of God and dogs lapped up her blood. Has my sin been so grievous that God had to destroy my life? Am I a stinch in His nostrils even though I dearly love His name? Does God make a piece of rotten fruit whole? Yet, though I have no hope, I do trust that God can and will do whatever He needs to do. If He wants to exalt me nothing can prevent Him. If He wants me to live an obscure, forgotten, painful, lonely life there’s nothing anyone can do about that either. He’s God and we’re not. His will be done.
God is a LIGHT, yet he still permits those who call on his name to walk in stone cold darkness. God is LOVE and full of MERCY and COMPASSION, yet he permits his followers to feel loveless, rejected, and abandoned. Oh Bless His Name!!!
I write these words with tears in my eyes and a feeling of hopelessness in my heart because I’ve been praying and calling and begging and imploring and quoting scripture….and listening and still…….NOTHING!!!!
Am I serving a sadistic GOD how enjoys seeing those who call on his name suffer? I don’t know what to say or what to do to move him. After all, JESUS has paid the price. Right? ANYONE who asks receives. Right? He who seeks finds. Right? And to him who knocks, doors are opened. Isn’t that so? And even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the children’s table. Can I get some crumbs, please GOD?
FATHER LORD, PLEASE HELP ME TO HOLD ON. PLEASE HELP ME TO WAIT FOR YOUR TIMING. HELP ME, OH GOD, TO BELIEVE IN YOU AND TRUST IN YOU AND HOPE IN YOU EVEN WHEN I FEEL AS IF I’M SPEAKING TO A STONE COLD WALL.
BLESSED BE GOD. BLESSED BE HIS HOLY NAME. BLESSED BE JESUS CHRIST, TRUE GOD AND TRUE MAN. BLESSED BE THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE PARACLETE. BLESSED BE GOD IN HIS ANGELS AND IN HIS SAINTS. AMEN.
Allan,
I have nothing inspiring to say. I understand your desparation. I just wanted you to know that I read your comment and take to heart your cries. No matter how we feel, God is and always will be. That is the truth. Stand on the truth. This is where we put faith into practice, believing and trusting, having joy and peace, even when it does not feel like He is there. Rememer that even Jesus felt abandoned by God at one time, but He obeyed and trusted none the less. We should follow His example.
With the most heart felt love… and in prayer, Danielle
Thanks, Danielle. Let us agree in prayer that God in his compassion acts swiftly to hear and act on the cries of all who know Him and call on His name.
Amen
Hi,
I have been reading about God being silent when we need him most. I am going through that right now.
This is the worst of anything I have ever been through in my life. It seems that the Lord is closing every door on me. I ask myself the same questions. Don’t you love me? Don’t you care? What am I doing wrong? It feels like I want to scream and say why are you doing all this?
I find it very hard to praise God in these times. God knows my heart, so I cannot lie and say I am praising him. All I’m doing is reading his words and crying to him day and night. I know the enemy loves this and I literally hate myself for listening to him. I know all about Ephesians 6. I ask the Lord everyday on putting on the whole armor of God. Maybe I am not understanding what it truly means. I am at my wits end and I actually feel faint and weak. Please, if anyone sees this, PLEASE respond to me. My tears are day and night. In Christ our Lord, MaryAnne
MaryAnne, I’m sorry you feel the way you do. If the question is ‘what do we do when God is silent” the answer I’ve learned is to trust that He is who He says He is, to praise Him anyway for what He has done and hope for a better life in eternity. You’re in my prayers, Danielle
Thank you Danielle for responding so quickly. I read some more of what my brother’s and sister’s in Christ are going through and I know I am not alone. I do know the Lord is here with me. I do praise the Lord for what he has done for me. What I was trying to say, is that I am having a hard time being happy in my circumstances. I know Paul was a true example of how we should live. That is what I meant when I said, I literally hate myself, because I am not praising him in my circumstances and letting the enemy get to me. I did ask about the armor of God and how I might not know what it really means, because the enemy is getting the best of me under my circumstances. I did say I know about Ephesians 6 but maybe I don’t understand it the way I REALLY SHOULD.
Thank you Danielle for listening and I will keep you also in prayer and please keep me in yours. I will keep everyone here in my prayers. Love to all, in Christ our Lord
If you really want to understand God’s character all the time, look at Jesus.
Read this :Matthew 15:22-29
22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
My advice: Approach God as if you are unworthy to be in His presence. Approach the throne of grace only to obtain mercy. Don’t ask for your wrights as a child of God, don’t ask for justice, just ask for MERCY!. He will surely answer you, in Jesus name.
hey i dont mean to draw attention to myself but may i ask if yall can pray for me it will be greatly be appreciated i will pray for everyone else but i needed prayer for a consistent walk with God and faith and pray that my prayers will be answered as well..i mean if yall dont mind
All of these words are so encouraging to me! So glad to see posts so recent too. I’ve been going through a terrible heartbreak since March 2011. All along I’ve felt God giving me scripture every couple of months or so along this journey. In December I heard the still small voice speak to me while I was praying and he said “no good thing will he withhold.” I was so excited to think that meant my answer was coming soon. On 12/23/2011 I received the scripture “you are blessed because you have believed the Lord would do what he said.” Again, I felt so strongly that my answer would be quick. Here it is 2/14/2012 and still no answer. I felt so confident that the answer would be here by now. Now, when I pray I get absolutely nothing — nothing since 12/23. I feel so distant from Him, yet I continue to pray and hope. This silence from HIm is deafening. I’ve been told recently God is often silent shortly before the answer comes and we are in a time of trusting. Has anyone else experienced this?
I too found this blog when I googled “when God is silent.” What a blessing!
Maggie Sue, I pray that God speaks to you and encourages you today.
Thank you. I’m emotionally exhausted — feel like my faith will just go down the drain if nothing comes of these promises. How will I ever trust myself again to discern his speaking to me? Have you experienced this before? Has God ever spoken to you directly about something?
Allan,
“For everything that was written in the past was written, so that through endurance and comforting of the scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4.
I don’t know what you’re going through but before the foundations of the earth were set in place God saw your pain. The bible says “Your eyes saw my unformed body as I was being woven together in my mother’s womb.”
If God’s eyes were on you while you were yet in your mother’s womb, if you are the apple of His eye, then,maybe,just maybe, whatever it is you’re going through,could be part of a greater plan that He has for you. I have often ask myself; “Why does God answer some prayers immediately and others fall on deaf ears?”I once asked a co-worker; Do you go to church? He responded by saying; “I do not believe in a god that picks and chooses”. He went on to say; ” My niece died at the age of nine,from complications of diabetes”. “Where was God?” The answer,God is sitting in His throne taking note of everything that happens under the sun.
As Christians we are called to live by faith.But does that exclude us from pain,trouble,suffering? Look at what the bible says regarding the heroes of the faith. Hebrews 11:13 says; “All these people were still living by faith when they died, THEY DID NOT RECEIVE THE THINGS PROMISED, they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance and they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.” Job said “Shall we receive from God good and not trouble?” The biggest truth ever told. The one truth that cannot be denied, regardless of what the fool has said in his heart, is,”There is a God and we are not Him” When you suffer He suffers.
Allan, you are not home yet. Read Mark 4:35 and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in the theological message hidden in this verse.
God bless you, we’ll be praying for you.
Santos & Nancy
Thank you, Santos, for your encouraging words. Wish I had time to give you every detail of this experience — started 3 years ago this month, but the last year off and on has been full of experiences I’ve never had. In December I so thought the answer was near, there were events that happened which appeared to be God’s answering my prayer. Then I found out I was wrong and I was crushed. If I’ve misunderstood his leading, then I haven’t heard from Him at all this year. I’ve prayed and fasted, asking for clarification.
It’s interesting that the first thing you discuss is coincidence — that is one of the things I’m questioning. Two weeks ago I asked God to protect me from having to see some people until I healed, if I had no future with this family — instead I ran into 3 family members over 2 days. So emotionally hard and draining.
While reading my chapters in Exodus Tuesday night for my SS class, I saw a note at the bottom (commentary) that said often we pray and there is a period where the situation gets worse or we cannot see any change at all. I wondered if God was showing me that — or, if again I’m seeing what I want to see. So hard to know when its Him or when we’re pulling out what we want to hear. I don’t mean to doubt His promise to me (Ps. 37:4), what I struggle with is have I misinterpreted things, has my mind created them, etc.
In my frustration 2 weeks ago I said “no more promises, just bring the answer.” Perhaps this silence is what I get for that harsh response.
Thanks for taking time to respond to me. I appreciate you. I’ll read Psalm 27:13.
Hello everyone, Reading all these comments has really helpped me not to feel alone, i had felt like God had abandoned me but i know He has not. Its amazing how many years people have been posting on this. I really need God to come thru for me, the last 6 years of my life have been so hard.I feel like my strength has failed along time ago.
a silent and mysterious god is a challenge to my pragmatic soul. i am reminded of how a seed planted is silent and mysterious and active and at work though unseen.
peace folks. peace.
I,, too, felt God had abandoned me. So much so I took matters into my own hands and made situation. For the next few days two friends reminded me of Abraham and Sarah and the mistake they made taking matters into their own hands. I prayed for 3rd confirmation if that was from the Lord and I received that s couple days later. That night the Lord spoke in the middle of the night and said “be still and know that I am God.” Next morning that scripture was my daily devotional scripture!! LESSON: he may be silent but he is still working on your behalf.
Excuse typo. On cell phone. Keep the faith!
I did a 7 day water prayer fast. I wanted to hear God’s speak to me. He did some things that he had always done. Nothing really new or special. I ended the fast depressed and feeling like I wanted to die because I did not see anything God did. I am done with with all the phasing stuff. I believe in God, but I gave up all of my spare time for all these years and yet I got nothing? I can’t handle that feeling. Very disappointed,
I did a 7 day water prayer fast. I wanted to hear God’s speak to me. He did some things that he had always done. Nothing really new or special. I ended the fast depressed and feeling like I wanted to die because I did not see anything God did. I am done with with all the phasing stuff. I believe in God, but I gave up all of my spare time for all these years and yet I got nothing? I can’t handle that feeling. Very disappointed,
DArla, I say this with joy, but if all we gain is salvation from Christ and never hear from the Lord again until the day we see HIM in heaven, then we have EVERYTHING and need nothing more. Have joy knowing that you know the Lord and that you have been forgiven and you have the hope of eternity in your heart. You lack nothing else. God bless you, I know He already has. :)))))
This is for Darla:
http://www.cru.org/training-and-growth/training/learn-from-gods-silence.htm
This article has been a help to me. Now, I don’t always stay in this state of mind, but going back and reading it over and over helps me. I too am question why God has not moved as promised in my life. I’ve also learned that our fasting and prayer does not make Him move/speak/change circumstances at our timing and at our demand. He’ll move, I’m told, when His timing is perfected.
what a blessing.i have been so blessed by this passage,because i am also going through the same thing.But,i know it’s a growing process,without doubt i know God is with me.praise God forever more for He faithful.He that started a good work in my life shall perfect and finish it.Thanks fellow saints for the encouraging words
I am so glad to know i’m not alone, i’ve been going through a depressing time but when i call out on God it seems as if He’s not there i cry, fast, pray, and i’m now even into reading christian motivational book to build up my faith. But i know it’s not about what i feel, God is unfathomable and He cannot be searched out i believe when the right time comes He’s going to answer our prayer. Don’t stop loving Him. All is well through Christ our Lord. Keep having faith my brothers and sisters in Christ.
I am so glad to know i’m not alone, i’ve been going through a depressing time but when i call out on God it seems as if He’s not there i cry, fast, pray, and i’m now even into reading christian motivational book to build up my faith. But i know it’s not about what i feel, God is unfathomable and He cannot be searched out i believe when the right time comes He’s going to answer our prayer. Don’t stop loving Him. All is well through Christ our Lord. Keep having faith my brothers and sisters in Christ.
I don’t know what is going on with my life. I think that God has shelfed me. I use to feel his presence and now i dont even believe I am a child. He has his favorites. All of my friends have gotten married but me. I am so desperately lonely, and I think he winks at my pain, my broken heart. I admit I am sin sick..but I don’t know what else to release myself from this pain and brokeness. Life is not worth living. I dont even have the energy to love my kids. nobody call me, talks to me, deal with me..not even God. He has abandon me just like my mother and father. Just like all my friends and family members. He sits so high on the throne unmoved and cold. It hurts so bad.
thank u.
I don’t want to offend anyone but I think that the prior posts are from people who have never really lived life. I lived thirty-three years without truly believing in racism or nepotism. This is not because my life has been easy. No, to the contrary, my life has been extra hard since I could remember. I even have instances of sexual abuse where my mother chose to not do anything about it. I also have instances of domestic violence from my ex-husband. Yet, through all of it, I went to law school, served as a judicial law clerk, and made something out of my life. When it came time to promote me, as the hardworking person who everyone praises, the job was given to another who is significantly less qualified and has no experience in the field. Some people say that it is a combination of nepotism and racism. I know that it is purely racism because the difference in experience is so big that I know that they would not have dared to give that job to him if I had been of a different color. And here I am, trying to find another job but unable to do so because of the job market.
I am now in a period of my life where I know that God is not good. I used to think that maybe God is not all powerful. I used this as an excuse for God. I blamed human behavior. But I now know that the problem is that God is not all loving. God is only all powerful and all loving to those who he already loves. If you look at the Old Testament, you will see many instances where someone is bad, he or she does not have faith or he or she is just plain stupid, but God stays with the person because the person is a chosen one. This has led me to believe that God does have his favorites, and he treats them as such. Therefore, the load he would expect you, the not so favored one, to carry is always heavier than that which he would expect the favored one to carry. Also, God requires a lot more sacrifice and faith from those less favored ones than he would a favored one.
So as much as I love God and I want to be a part of God, I don’t see myself being able to worship someone who so blatantly ignores my cries. God blatantly ignores the fact that I have already been through too much in the past and cannot go through even more. I just want to rest for a while and catch my breath before another life hits. Yet, I have to go to work every day and do my work feeling the way I do.
I don’t really need anyone’s word of wisdom because I have given those words to others. I have been known to keep my head up high always no matter what is going on. I have always been the most optimistic person. That time is gone and it was taken away from me without God interfering.
Scarlette,
What you “feel” or “think” about God is not necessarily TRUE about Him. If the bible says He is loving, long suffering, kind, just, faithful, forgiving, then HE IS.
You are imposing your VIEW of Him to His character. That is not right. If you are willing to accept the good things in this life as God-given, then you MUST accept the bad things that happen as God-appointed, at the very least. And we know that all gifts from Him are good and perfect. You have the free will to choose to receive both good and bad with thankfulness or bitterness. It’s your choice. God is good, all the time, no matter the circumstances, no matter how you feel about it. If you believe in Him, then you will choose to submit to His authority and trust that everything that happens is for the good to those who love HIM. I pray you will reconsider. The alternative to trusting Him will be an eternity in hell, which is far worse than being unfairly looked over for a promotion.
My dear Danielle,
To say that the issue is a denied promotion is to trivialize what occurred. This is not the first time I have not gotten something, and this will not be the last time. However, what happened here, and how it happened, was a defeat of the weak, and that defeat, as you pointed out, was God appointed.
My views of God are different from yours, but just as my views do not mirror His character, your views do not mirror His character either. I don’t think any of us will ever be able to phantom His character. We relate to God based on our interpretation of the Holy Book and our reaction to different stimuli in our life. Therefore, our views, positive or negative, are based on human conception. And just like humans, our views are flawed.
To me, it is a great insult to God to say that one does or does not believe in him. When you look at Job 38:4 to 39:40, you learn why God is truly above everyone and everything else. And I agree with those verses.
God is all powerful. God created us and He can change the course of events in nanoseconds or in years. He can make that which was never to be.
My point is that God is not all loving. I am not saying that this is bad or good. I am saying that I will stop pretending that God is all loving when He is clearly not all loving. I don’t have to make a decision on whether I like winter to know that winter will come between December and February every year.
I am not questioning God and I am not judging God. I don’t have the right to do that but I am not going to deceive myself.
Scarlette, I agree with you on some levels. Only those who have suffered the same pain over and over and over again can undertand the feelings you have. I have and I do. I keep wondering where my God is. I pray, I fast, I’ve been face-first in the floor begging for help or relief, for emotional healing, for my faith to be made complete through a 30 year unanswered prayer.
I feel that people throw feel-good Bible scriptures at us that make them feel better, not ever having to live through the test of them — the most over used one being Romans 8:28 — just as above. Even my Christian counselor told me, “I agree, your situation does not line-up with the high & lofty platitudes of religiosity.” That’s it in a nutshell. I dared to ask him the tough questions, He’s seen what I’ve been through over the last 7 years and I’ve told him in detail about the previous years. He’s the only one that’s been “real” enough to say to me — “you’re right. You haven’t reaped what you’ve sewn — you’ve sewn love over and over again, and have reaped heart ache, rejection, emotional abuse, etc.” Said he didn’t have any more answers for me. He even agreeed it is almost cruelty to throw that Romans 8:28 scripture out at people who are down to their face in the floor.
I’ve been honest with Him, I’ve prayed about my frustrations — prayed the Psalm 88-type prayer and …….nothing. I again thought I heard him speak to me last October and say “it won’t be much longer” — it was so clear in my head — startled me and I looked around knowing I was the only one home, but yet — nothing. The person I was praying about couldn’t be farther away emotionally.
Find myself wondering what it is I’m being punished for. Actually found myself wondering about reincarnation of our souls — that they do in fact return to earth until they learn the right lessons —
On the other hand, I’ve experienced some tremendous blessings — of a financial nature, great job, a healthy, beautiful and stable daughter, grandkids, etc. But this one need, one huge need in my life, has gone unanswered for many years.
In the end, I keep believing, keep hoping and keep praying — it’s better than not believing.
Dear Maggiesue,
Good evening. Thank you so much for your response. You understand exactly what I mean. I have also thought about reincarnation. I have thought of it all. I don’t even bother praying anymore because I know that it will not be answered. It is all in God’s time.
I am happy that you have your blessings. Those blessings are so important, but sometimes I wonder if that is God’s way of anchoring us to stop us from totally leaving. I don’t know. All and all, I am happy that you have your blessings.
I too have a great blessing. I have such a great child. My child is as close to perfection as any mother could ever hope to have. I can’t even believe that I gave birth to, or that I am raising, such a wonderful person. Such pure perfection. My child is so wholesome and brings so much joy to the whole family. This is a great blessing indeed.
Thank you so much for your response. It feels good to hear from someone who understands it.
Thank you for your response. I will try to keep the patience alive. And I will keep waiting.
Thank you for your response.
I don’t know if that’s His reason or not. The New Testament is clear that we will suffer on this earth. Paul, Stephen, etc. all suffered for the cause of Christ. BUT we don’t hear those stories or that teaching from the televangelists, the big names, the one’s that are making money on their books — they teach health, wealth, prosperity and that God answers all prayers. It’s a scam — it fills seats and sells books. Their biggest break is when they get a shot on the Oprah Winfrey Network — that really brings in the money for them. It’s easy to preach/teach that stuff when it’s working for you —
I’m trying so hard not to completely give in and give up. Like you, I believe in God, I still pray, but beginning to wonder if he really knows or cares about our day-to-day struggles. While I say that though, I can recall a time I was sure He spoke to me in a very dark hour and showed me my granddaugher that would be born 7 years later. Now, at the time I thought that meant I would have another child, but it meant her.
I don’t have all the answers — no one does. None of the people writing on this blog do. We’re all trying to figure it out while we go along.
I’m trying to learn humbleness — instead of anger. I have an 82 year old friend who is as spiritual and faithful as I’ve ever encountered. She has suffered through the years, but eventually her prayers were answered. God made her a promise and it took 9 years for it to happen. She said she almost gave up along the way, but it finally came true. She keeps telling me God responds to our praises and not our griping. I think that’s probably true, but it’s so hard to praise when you hurt so bad and your emotions are shot. Hopefully, God understands that — but at the same time, faith is built through answered prayers and by seeing his hand in our lives. Read the Psalms — the psalmists poured out their emotions, even David got mad and poured his out.
As for the comment above that our salvation alone is enough — I feel that is opiate for the masses — a “feel- good” statement. I want to feel His presence in my life here on the earth while I’m having trouble — not when I get to the place that’s supposed to be perfect. How could I learn to trust and believe in Him if I don’t experience Him on earth?
Those who throw “feel-good” scripture at your when you’re hurting have never been truly tested “in the fire” or they wouldn’t throw those at you — they’d share their true test that turned into “test”imony.
Like many of you, I found this site because I Googled “what to do when God is silent.” I have been in this desert for years now–actually, I was thinking about this the other day and I realized that it has been over a decade. No, it doesn’t get easier with time. I find myself unmoved by the blithe feel-good scriptures that come to people so easily. And please don’t anyone bring out that horrible poem about the footprints in the sand!
The only thing I’m sure about in this is that my experience doesn’t match anything that I was raised or taught to expect in all those years of Sunday school. I’ve heard the one about how poor Daniel once had to wait 3 weeks for an answer to prayer, and it makes me want to laugh out loud. Even the ones where people waited in the desert for a year or two or three are now starting to seem short. I used to assume that this was temporary, and I find myself still assuming that someday this empty time will end, but I think I’m losing faith and I can’t understand why God would allow me to do that and still remain silent. Then I remember all the other times a year or two or five years ago when I was also losing faith and God was silent then too. And he’s still silent, but apparently I’m still asking. So does that mean that I actually still have faith even though most of the time these days I’m not even sure what that means?
Yes, I know we are supposed to be patient. God’s ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts, and all that irritatingly true nonsense. But I’m still angry at God for not following through, and I’m still frustrated because I can’t figure out what direction to go, and I’m still anguished that I can’t seem to figure out whether or where I’ve done something wrong, and I’m grieving for the life that I thought would come once I finally got to the other side of this decade-long desert. Everyone says that spring comes eventually, with unexpected blessings. But mine has not. I wake up every morning and I’m still in the stupid desert, and God still won’t tell me why.
I remember what it felt like to hear God’s voice, but these days I’m asking myself whether I imagined it before. I don’t think so. I really still don’t think so. But some of those times that I thought I heard him I turned out to be wrong. So even if I do hear him again, how will I know?
I still do believe that God speaks to people. I still believe that he acts in people’s lives. I even believe that he bestows wonderful, unexplainable, unexpected blessings for no other reason than to bring joy to his children. I’ve seen him do this over and over again–for other people. And I believe in it–for other people.
Is it wrong to ask for anything for ourselves? There is one very precious thing that I have asked God for over and over, and I’m very much afraid that somehow my desperate need for this fundamental missing piece has broken my connection with God. But I can’t let it go. I seem to be the wrong shape to be able to live successfully without this missing piece. I asked God, if he wouldn’t change my circumstances, to change my shape so that I could live in the circumstances he gave. And he said no, he would not change me, that he made me the shape I am because he intended for me to be that shape. But my circumstances remained the same, and he went back to his silence.
My mother has always been my spiritual mentor. During the roughest and saddest times of her life, God was always there for her as an almost tangible presence to help her through. I learned everything from her, so I can’t make sense of a universe where he isn’t willing to be present like that for me. If he cares for his children, why doesn’t he respond when we cry? Even if he can’t fix it all for us, would the spiritual equivalent of a hug really be too much to ask?
Is it wrong to ask for anything for ourselves? I understand that we can’t set conditions on our relationship with God. I know that he can’t be Santa Claus. But there’s that verse about how a parent would never give a child a stone if he asked for bread or a snake if he asked for fish. If our very hearts and spirits are crying in anguish, can’t we ask for what we need? What kind of God would be so indifferent to that?
Evidently the common wisdom is that I’m supposed to be learning something from this. But what, exactly, am I learnng? That God will not respond to our cries, no matter what falls apart or dies or fails or crumbles to pieces in our hands? I feel like a person trying to run with half a leg. If nothing else, shouldn’t God care when we’re too broken to do his work? I don’t mind going through some trouble and heartache if it’s for a purpose. But I need to know there’s something else coming. I’m so dry and empty, and I just can’t keep carrying this anymore without some sign that there will be a change.
God, where is the end of this desert? Will you change my desolation to springtime? Can you offer me some hope, or tell me what direction to turn? If it can’t be springtime, can’t you at least be with me in my loneliness?
It has been many months since that post and I see God had a plan for me the whole time. When God seems silent I know it is because He is teaching me something. I see that now. I am so grateful for God and His patience and blessings in my life today.
Good morning, Maggiesue. I also intensely dislike the “feel good” statements from good Christians. It is almost as if I am being blamed for things that I could not prevent. Sometimes I feel like pointing out irrefutable/hurtful truths to them. But in the end, I just try to stay polite because deep inside I know that it is important to me that no one else feels the same way I do. I want them to keep their faith and to have hope. I fear that they will not be able to handle life if they were forced to live like me.
Oh Sara, you are not alone with your disdain of the footprints poem. I don’t like to use strong words such as “hate”, but I really do HATE that poem so much.
You echo my feels so accurately in paragraphs three to ten. The silence makes everything worse. It makes me feel so unimportant. I wonder if maybe God cannot hear me. Therefore, I do novenas, I do special prayers, I cry, I knock, I seek, and I ask. But nothing. I sometimes joke that God will not stir even if I catch on fire in front of him.
The sad thing is that even with all my faults, I know myself enough to say that I can wait for God’s time if he tells me to wait. I just need Him to tell me to do so. I need to know that there is an end, a spring time. I need to know that there is a reason for this. I need to know that things do not just randomly happen without any recourse. I need to know that there is lesson to be learned.
I need to know that I am not the foolish ex-wife or ex-girlfriend holding on to a relationship that ended a long time ago.
Sometimes, I wonder if at some point I did something so terrible that God decided to walk away. But then I look at other people, who I know intimately, who have done terrible things to me and God is still with them. Then I start wondering if I am just not important enough for God to care when someone wrongs me, but cares when I wrong other people. I always think of the story of Hagar and Sarah. Hagar is the slave and Sarah the wife of Abraham, the loved one. Sarah forced Hagar to bear a child for her husband, and then forced her husband to kick Hagar out after Sarah bore her own child. I know that the story is pro Sarah, and points to the fact that Hagar started thinking that she was more important than her station. However, is it so bad for Hagar to think that she deserves more than other slaves because she bore a child for the master? Does Hagar, and her child, deserve to be sent to the dessert where she and her child almost died? Why is Sarah blessed so much but not Hagar? Sarah is not a nice woman. It is quite frustrating but stories like this really makes me think that some people are just not important to God, and that I am one of those unimportant people.
(Sorry for the name coincidence).
Te, God promises that He will never leave you or forsake you. In Jer 31:3 He says that He has loved you with an everlasting love and in Rom 8:38-39, He promises that nothing can separate you from the love of God – Not even your current feelings and perceptions that He is treating you as your parents did. 1 Peter 5:7 tells you to give all your worries to God, for he cares about what happens to you. May God give you His peace and joy and may you know a very special sense of His presence as you trust in His word.
I can relate to everything you said. I’ve thought alot about Sarah, Hagar and Abraham. That’s the story that everyone shares with me. Think we have to go out and make our own lives happen. I don’t believe anymore God changes the hearts of other people. Maybe he gives us strength to endure. Really don’t know about that anymore either.
I know i sure can relate to alot of people on this site.i myself am going through a time where it seems god is not listening or there.i hear god say be patient or be still.seems like he has led me to the middle of the ocean and just letting me dangle there.i dont get it.i try to trust him and have faith…but seems like i start to feel better and be positive something knocks me right back down again.everything around me seems to be crumbling down around me and no one cares.i have no family cuz they all walked away…my financial situation is horrible….my kids have left and im alone.i do have an aunt who i talk to regularly….she helps alot and am thankful for her.i came across this website trying to find some kind of an answer as to y god seems to just leave or not listen.and he says he will not give u mkre then u can handle but it sure feels like way to much to me as i find myself getting depressed alot
I wonder what it is that we all have in common, that leads us to feel so ignored by God. I mean, it seems like the illness (God’s silence) should have some common symptoms we could identify, since there are so many of us who feel this way. Surely then, if we could diagnose the reason for the illness we could find a treatment to end it….
I hate to admit it but, in all my 37 years of life, I don’t think I’ve ever heard from God. I’ve been a Christian since I was 15, but really never began to walk until in my twenties. Even then I felt alone.
At one point in my early 30’s I thought a prayer had been answered but now I’m not so sure. And for the past couple years I’ve been praying for guidance and wisdom, but greeted by silence. I feel like many of you. I continue on my current path, alone in the darkness, uncertain which way to go or what lay ahead. There are no road signs from God telling me if I’m going in the right direction or not. I feel like a race horse with blinders. I can’t see anything else around me, just what’s in front of me and it looks bleak and lonely. Just tiny little baby steps day by day so I don’t fall off a cliff.
Why won’t God answer me? Why won’t He give me a flashlight? A sign post? Tap me on the shoulder and say, “Keep going, you’re almost there” or “Hey, you need to go left”…
My mother, who is very close to God, has all her needs met, her questions answered. But me? Nope. And she says, God just wants me to do what I’m doing and wait.
Wait for what? What’s the signal to start moving?
If God would just tell me He’s working in my life, give me a personal promise and say I have to wait for it….then OKAY LORD, I’ll wait. But to be left knowing NOTHING. To be shut out of my own life…. it’s maddening and depressing. I just want to quit trying. Quit praying. Quit reading my Bible. Quit life.
No one NEEDS me here. I don’t matter.
Then I remember, it’s not about me.
It’s about God. About Jesus. About what He sacrificed for us.
And everything is okay for one more day.
Susan, we have God in common. We have an expectation that our parent who knows all, who sees all, and who has promised to care for us should be there for us, to care for us. We have an expectation that our parent should be able to stop the world from swallowing us, or at least throw a rope to us while we are trying to crawl out.
I don’t know what to say to you because there is nothing that I can say that will make it better. I am sure that you have heard it all, and you have tried to be patient for God’s time, and tried to appreciate the things that have been given to you. But yet, days turn into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years without relief. You feel as if you are stuck in mud with nowhere to go but down. You see yourself struggle to get out (as you have been advised to do), and you get pushed down more instead of achieving success.
I think that eventually the sorrow runs its course and acceptance comes. Or maybe numbness comes. I don’t know. But I am happier today than I was last week, two weeks ago, or three weeks ago. I don’t know why. Nothing has changed. Everything is still the same. But I am happier now. I even went to Church today without getting angry. I smile now. I have stopped crying. I think that the sorrow has ran its course. Things will not get better, but I am not so hurt by it anymore. I am just numb, and the numbness is helping me achieve happiness.
Scott Anthony, I do not want to start an argument, but a child of God should never say what you just said. We are not here to judge anyone. We are here to hear people out, and offer what little condolence we have. People do not post here because they have nothing to day on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. You search for this page and write on this page because you reached a point of exhaustion in the waiting, in life. Please let us be kind here, as kindness is the only thing that can help on this page.
To the last comment. I think that you were a little tough on Scarlett. I do not ever remember Jesus in the gospels talking to someone or giving that kind of response. He was gentile and kind to everyone especially to someone who was lost , confused or with weak faith. I pray everyday and feel that God hears all my prayers and I do not talk in tongues. I have seen and feel that God is working in my life.
I pray everyday and speak out loud to God sometimes all day long. I believe that when we seek God with all our heart we will find him. I believe that God will never leave us nor forsake us and that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose the third day. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. I made Jesus the lord of my life and my savior. I also believe that who ever becomes a friend of this world becomes an enemy of God. I may not know the bible cover to cover but I know how to pray and communicate with God. God may be silent at times but is not still. God works the most when you see and feel it the least.
First let me say:
Who are you that judge another man’s servant? to his own master he stands or falls. Yes, he shall be held up: for God is able to make him stand.
And second:
God doesn’t egnore us, you must ALWAYS remember,trust and believe that God knows what He is doing and no matter what He does it for our own good!
The reason is always that we grow in
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
2 Peter 3:18
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Eph 1:17-23 (KJV)
Trust comes from inside of us with God, to many people want the outward knowledge of God. KNOWING is really a big word… (Knowing) inside of us that when He is silent He is right there living inside of us (((always working))) to bring us to the full knowledge and understanding of Him. First and foremost (((HE IS GOD)))!!! He can do what He wants any way He wants any time He wants to anyone He wants. HE is the one who (((KNOWS))) what HE is doing! It is up to us to (((TRUST))) that this is the way it is and that (((HE))) is doing all for our own good! Over time I have learned to love Him even more during these times because I (((KNOW))) this is (((TRUTH))), I KNOW it just like I KNOW my own name. I now have peace in silence knowing that I TRUELY TRUST GOD!
Scott, question for you… If your son or daughter, oh lets say 3 or 4 year old CAME to YOU for guidance and you didn’t approve of what he or she spoke to you would you yank them up and beat them with a belt? After all they CAME to you for help, did you really set the example that Christ would have set? Just remember you are dealing with the children that belongs to God…. Not to you!
Scott, there are a lot of voices out there but I test the voices just as I test the spirits, and let me tell you, when God speaks I HEAR IT! Guess that comes from not listening to every little voice that comes on a daily basis. I am very thankful for the way God has brought me up cause at least in these last days if I cry out to the Lord and He doesn’t answer me at least I have been strengthened in this area and I won’t fall apart and feel as if He has abandoned me. no I will just stand and take it like the strong woman that HE has taught me to be!
No one is born as an adult! You seem to think that your so called growth is of your own doing. NOT!!! we can plant and we can water but it is GOD who give growth… I have no need to defend myself.
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
1 Cor 3:6-8 (KJV)
Oh and Scott, I am far from perfect and would be the first to admit it but one thing is for sure (I FEAR GOD and HIS JUDGMENT) truth be known, that is whats wrong with Christianity today, most don’t fear him! Instead they play the RULE of GOD!
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.
Psalms 111:10 (KJV)
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
You see Scott, God does speak to me THROUGH HIS WORD!
The fleshly me didn’t want to post but I guess when the Lord God speaks we should obey.
warning…
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matt 24:44-51 (KJV)
So you asked me what I do, do I pray? I think it is very clear what I spend my time doing… I attend to the word of God and when I am called to pray, well that is none of your business what I do in my prayer closet. There is plenty more where this came from Scott…
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Matt 6:5-8 (KJV)
I just wanted to share this link with all of you, it is the New testament with audio and the text. On my YouTube channel there you will find books of the old testament as well, I don’t have the old testament finished but you are all welcome to the works I have done and uploaded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBfesoYiCCI&list=PL4C9E0128D0CA6419
Michele,
Be encouraged. The place you’re in is ripe ground for realizing a lot of really incredible things about His heart for you.
You mentioned that you do hear Him telling you to be still.
In my own life, the times when He has told me to be still have preceded really beautiful times when I would have not noticed His presence or His love if I WEREN’T still.
Being still doesn’t make any sense to our flesh that wants to do and understand. It’s foolishness to us!
I think you are finding that your lot right now is more than you can handle. Good! That is half the good news!
I know this will sound crazy, but what if you believed that all of these things were actually expressions of His love, and not indifference?
He wants to be known by you.
He is not malicious. He is not your enemy who wants to take away everything that is of importance to you for the sake of breaking you down. He is about Life more abundantly, and He does not fear if a kind of death happens along the way. He is not the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. You may lose things, and He may let them be taken so that you may know Him more. But His love for you is not threatened by anything. In Him, all things that were stolen, killed, or destroyed are restored, resurrected, and made new. I pray that you see His love in everything that seems to be crumbling around you.
In The Practice of the Presence of God, a man by the name of Brother Lawrence wrote, “I have no idea what’s to come of me, but I feel so serene that it does not matter. Because I am at rest, the trials of life bring me no suffering.”
He is revealing Himself to you.
Consider what position you are in. See how persistent He is with you. How might you be alleviated if you received everything as love from Him? I would not mention this if I had not tasted it myself. It’s possible, friend.
Let us look more specifically at where you are:
You said your family and children have walked away. While that is probably not something anyone would pray for, look at the place it puts you in:
You can know Him so well by knowing Him as your all-in-all. What is the element of relationship with your family that is fully yours in Christ? Isn’t it the love experienced in knowing and being known and having the presence of dear ones nearby? Is that not our inheritance in Christ? (This is not to say that He is anti-family or that your desire for a family is bad. He designed family as we know it and those relationships are incredible ways to know Him more.)
As for your financial situation — I rejoice! Look at how much — how tangibly! — you get to depend on Him right now! You get to know Him as the Living God who provides what you need exactly when you need it. He is your caretaker and He is strategic. These words from James come to mind:
“Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” James 2:5
(I also want to add that I, too, am in a financial position that many see as unstable. But because of how much joy He has given me in trusting Him, and how trustworthy He has shown Himself to be in the past, I am not worried about whether or not my needs will be met. Because of this, He has made my life about so much more than just the basics. And, to be truthful, I have grown to prefer uncertainty and a lack of resources because of how I get to see Him speak things into being.)
I also want to add that, if you are in Christ, He is not punishing you. His wrath was poured out on Christ and we have an entirely new relationship with Him as beloved sons and heirs, instead of slaves.
Finally, I want to add that I am close with several brothers and sisters in Christ who have lived in treacherous waters. Those who have chosen to believe Him without understanding why such devastating things were happening are now boasting in how beautifully He revealed Himself to them through it all. They consider knowing Him more richly worth far more than what they “lost” along the way. I pray He enriches you with this insight as well!
Scott why don’t you spend some time in prayer and seek God about me? After reading this post it is clear to me you don’t seek God about people before you open your mouth and I sit hear with Christ Jesus as my witness to this fact! I feel sorry for you Scott… I will ask God to renew your heart and forgive you for making (((false assumption))) against His people. Scott I KNOW the things in my life I need to work on in my heart, and the Lord works with me every day on those things.. I really do feel sorry for you, when I sit here and KNOW my Lord and God and His ways and think of the countless times God must have tried to touch your heart about your conduct… it saddens me deeply! You see Scott I am a child of the King, therefore I try to conduct myself as such. You have allowed so much vile stuff to come out of your mouth, (((your own words show what your heart looks like))). To those who may read this and KNOW the Lord and His ways you KNOW my words to be true! Your right Scott, His sheep know His voice and it sure isn’t coming from your mouth! God have mercy on you and give you a heart of love and tenderness. (The meat comes in due (((season))). Not when you demand it! God timing not yours…
It is really none of your business and regardless what I chose to believe doesn’t mean I push it on others, I keep those things between me and God.
1 Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: 2 Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. 5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. 6 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. 7 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. 8 But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities. 9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
Jer 10:1-9 (KJV)
l.o.l… Scott are you lonely or what? I am really kind of busy here (Jericho and Archaeology)… so condemn me to hell and go on. you may have wanted to take the time to read the verses I posted on the last post before you reacted B.O.L. They were the answer to your question. I got to tell you though, I called my sons in to see your post and they all got a good laugh at how you think you know people. Awww I know I shouldn’t laugh… Got to go, got to start all over on this (Jericho and Archaeology) information.
God is always watching us from the distance, know matter things could be very bad to us but He will never leave us.
I was depressed and even thought thinking of killing my self, but God procted me from that.
the communication with God is the best to have, even when sometimes we feel like He is knowlonger on ourside, but He is always with us.
be strong and stand up for your creater is with tou.
love life and choose life not death.
all seasons are there to pass not to stay.
remember that Jesus Christ Loves you
always tell your self that you’re the best.
you’re special, unique and importent.
you’re the only you that you have, so enjoy with who you are and show people the character of God that was deposited on your life.
5468 Protea Glen ext 4, Soweto, Johannesburg,South Africa
S.Tshabalala
I had an experience in which I questioned why God wasnt talking to me. After all it felt a bit one sided; me doing all the chatting. I wept, I cried, I got angry, I complained, I begged.
Silence.
I still don’t know the answer why God speaks to some and not to others. In my opinion it’s risky reading the stories of people who claim God spoke with them. How do we know He did?
One story I read on another blog is of a girl who claimed God spoke to her for the space of half an hour and then promptly threw out of a window for daring to…ahem, pray! Said she escaped with one bruise and claimed it was a miracle. How does one reconcile that kind of treatment when scripture testifies that He takes us under His wings like a hen does its chicks.
All the same I find it discouraging and that’s a bone I have decided to pick with God when we do get to meet face-to-face; assuming I make it of coruse.
If you believe in NDEs then you will discover that in one instance you will know all the answers to all your questions, so I guess it won’t take too long to find out.
My son, in his teenage years, at a critical moment of deciding whether to carry on believing or not foolishly challenged God to speak to him or reveal Himself to him in some way, no matter how small, so as to prove that He was real. Silence. Today, my son doesn’t want to KNOW anything about God.
Am I bitter? No, because although I am fed up with God over this issue, I know one day He will explain why and I will have to shake my head in shame.
Job had lost of questions. Did God answer them? Not a chance. But He did treat Job to an amazing revelation of His creative powers that had Job blushing and cringing and admitting to being a sinner after all. If you recall his three friends told him he was a sinner and Job vehemently dinied that he was. And all those guys got for their “comforting” help was a rucking from the Lord who told them that they had not spoken the truth about Him and Job would have to offer a sacrifice on their behalf; which the great man did, of course, and BEFORE he was healed.
Can we by searching find out God? Not a chance. Yet it would be nice of Abba if He were to chill out and give us a break from the silence of the last two millennia. I mean after all 2,000 years is a heck of a long time without speaking to a soul here on Earth. At least under the Old Covenant He did speak directly to us through one of His Prophets.
Sorry Lord, just saying….
I had an experience in which I questioned why God wasnt talking to me. After all it felt a bit one sided; me doing all the chatting. I wept, I cried, I got angry, I complained, I begged.
Silence.
I still don’t know the answer why God speaks to some and not to others. In my opinion it’s risky reading the stories of people who claim God spoke with them. How do we know He did?
One story I read on another blog is of a girl who claimed God spoke to her for the space of half an hour and then promptly threw out of a window for daring to…ahem, pray! Said she escaped with one bruise and claimed it was a miracle. How does one reconcile that kind of treatment when scripture testifies that He takes us under His wings like a hen does its chicks.
All the same I find it discouraging and that’s a bone I have decided to pick with God when we do get to meet face-to-face; assuming I make it of coruse.
If you believe in NDEs then you will discover that in one instance you will know all the answers to all your questions, so I guess it won’t take too long to find out.
My son, in his teenage years, at a critical moment of deciding whether to carry on believing or not foolishly challenged God to speak to him or reveal Himself to him in some way, no matter how small, so as to prove that He was real. Silence. Today, my son doesn’t want to KNOW anything about God.
Am I bitter? No, because although I am fed up with God over this issue, I know one day He will explain why and I will have to shake my head in shame.
Job had lost of questions. Did God answer them? Not a chance. But He did treat Job to an amazing revelation of His creative powers that had Job blushing and cringing and admitting to being a sinner after all. If you recall his three friends told him he was a sinner and Job vehemently dinied that he was. And all those guys got for their “comforting” help was a rucking from the Lord who told them that they had not spoken the truth about Him and Job would have to offer a sacrifice on their behalf; which the great man did, of course, and BEFORE he was healed.
Can we by searching find out God? Not a chance. Yet it would be nice of Abba if He were to chill out and give us a break from the silence of the last two millennia. I mean after all 2,000 years is a heck of a long time without speaking to a soul here on Earth. At least under the Old Covenant He did speak directly to us through one of His Prophets.
Sorry Lord, just saying….
I feel as if God is really punishing me from having a love life that he gave to so many other men and women that are now together with their families, and why not us? finding love is very hard for me right now, especially since there are no good women out there to meet anymore. women are definitely a lot nastier today, and just don’t know how to talk to us men anymore when we will approach the one that we would really like to meet. we are certainly no different than the ones that have their life together, and we would love to have a life like them as well.
For almost a 2 months I have been without enough work to pay my bills. It has been a humiliating time. I keep speaking Gods Word. He says he SHALL supply all my needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. He has done so many little things and they truly are BIG in my eyes that even in this silence I knows HE will come through. I got saved when I was 5. There are so many things need fixing but I’m going to Praise Him until I see Him move in an even bigger way. He will not leave us or forsake us. Let’s get our faith up!
Hi I am going through the same thing you are. Any update? Have you found anyone? Have you heard God’s voice?
Greetings to the host, Seth Barnes, and all of God’s elect.
God is God and will never change. I have struggled with His silence over the years but He made me realize I have only the option of submitting to His way of doing things.
Matthew 6:33 says “But seek first His kingdom & His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” God’s desire to see His children grow spiritually far surpasses that of seeing them prosper in the natural. He will use suffering to make us more like Christ. Paul said if you are at home in the body you are far from the Lord.
Romans 5:3-5 & James 1:2-4 speak of how we should rejoice in our sufferings as they draw us towards perfection. Hebrews 2:9 & 5:7-10 are similar when the latter says, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Although He was a son, he learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him and was designated to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”
The Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28 cried to Jesus that He would free her daughter from the clutches of a demon. His first response was that of silence. His second was discriminatory. And in the third He called her a dog. The woman was not perturbed or offended, and nor was she discouraged by these responses that, in most people’s eyes, are deserving of retribution. Jesus was moved by her faith and humility, and through these spiritual fruit her daughter was set free.
I believe that many before and after her were afforded the same reception. She stands out among those multitudes as evidenced by her inclusion in the Holy Scriptures. If she had berated Jesus, would He have run after her, apologized and told her He was only testing her? No! She would have gone back home to a demon-possessed daughter. And Jesus would have continued His ministry knowing there’s a girl being tormented by a demon whom He purposely did not heal. Why?! Because spiritual growth is of infinitely-greater worth than earthly comfort; God will develop the former at the expense of the latter.
If someone called me a dog I would throw a fit. And it’s for this reason I believe I’m still in hard times which have lasted 9 years – I lack humility (plus a number of other spiritual attributes) and God will work it in me through the troubles of this world. My time in my ordeal can be shortened by cooperating with God. When I come out of my present situation I know another that cuts even deeper will be waiting for me; with tears and great travail I will confront it and become more like Christ through it. We are soldiers in God’s army; mollycoddling won’t transform us into effective soldiers.
Though in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 Paul was referring to suffering for the sake of the gospel, I believe that because God uses all suffering in a Christian’s life to perfect us for His work, the scripture is relevant to our daily troubles. And it reads, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Thanks, Tumai. I appreciate your heart for truth and for Scripture.
I typed in “why has God abandoned me?” and saw this link. I am 50 years old and have loved and served Jesus since I was little. He has always been my joy and my strength…and my life has not been an easy one. I am a spirit-filled, born-again Christian. For a year now I have been battling a monster. I’ve prayed, fasted, stood on His promises, even when He seems to be blessing the monster. The betrayal and un-founded hatred of this monster for me, has effectively ruined my ministry, my family, and my reputation. At first, I assumed that no weapon formed against me would prosper. I’ve always had complete faith in God’s Word. I am beginning to wonder if God hates me. That’s the worst of it. I have always been able to get through anything because I knew without a doubt that no matter what, I had God’s love. But as the scripture says, He loves who He loves and He hates who He hates. I am actually scared to pray for anybody because whatever I pray, the opposite happens. If you are reading this, then like me, I am sure you are concluding that I have somehow fallen out of favor with God. I love Jesus and I can’t live without Him. When God is blessing your enemy and ignoring your tears, it really hurts… I used to never cry, even at funerals…but I have cried every day for the last 10 months. The thing is I don’t even want this enemy defeated, I just want restoration. Even after a year, I am in shock. I have no idea how this happened. If anyone is reading this, I need your prayers. Desparately.
I am feeling horrily guilty over my last post. I feel as if I have publically gone against God. My feelings of despair are not edifying to anyone. Please let me be clear. In my whole life, God has never let me down. If He never does another thing for me for the rest of this life, He has done plenty more than He ever had to already. I will serve Him to my very last breath, no matter what hardships I face getting there. He is kind and loving and if He wants my current life to be like this, I will take it, and Stand. His grace is sufficient for me.
Jenn, Please do not worry that you have publicly spoken out against God. It is not something you did after a day or two of not getting a desire. Your writing came from hurt, a sense of betrayal, and a longing to use another mode to reach God. It is okay.
If you read my initial posting, you will find that I too had been lost for a while. These things happen. I dont know if it makes you a better person, or brings you closer to God. I dont have an explanation for it. Even though life is so much better for me now, I cannot even say that life will always get better after such great adversity.
All I can say is that it happens. The only thing you can really do is to choose to love God even when you are down and you have evidence that He is behaving badly towards him. This is a hard thing to do, and I cannot promise that I will do it tomorrow. I just know that it is the only thing to do.
Personally, I have come to believe that no one can change Gods mind. I sometimes fear to pray for important things because I believe that God will do the exact opposite. Yet, I find myself teaching my son to love God. I pray that he will have a stronger faith than I do. I dont want him to hurt as I have due to lack of faith. Does this mean that I blame myself for what my enemy has done? Does this mean that I am not angry because my enemy prospered while stepping me into the ground. NO. NO it does not. It means that on days that I can, I praise my God. On days that I cannot, I find ways to cope with it. But I always build trust, love and faith in God for my son.
Jenn, please do not despair for moments of weakness. It is okay to feel mad at God. My son gets mad at me, and he speaks out about it. I always listen. Sometimes I cannot help him, sometimes I chose not to respond. But I am only human. I would hope that my God can always help and will always respond. Sometimes, I feel as if he does not. But today, it is okay with me if he does not. I dont know if I can handle his silence tomorrow. But today I can. Therefore, I praise myself for the todays of my life. I do not feel guilty for the tomorrows when I cannot handle Gods silence. I only hope that I will have more todays than tomorrows as my life progresses.
Jenn, it is okay to despair. I will have my son pray for you. I cannot promise that everything will work out, but I want you to always know that it is okay to question the parent that you love.
I dont know if I have been helpful. My whole point is that it is okay to get angry when such adversity has taken place in front of our parent, and it seems that the parent has not protected us. Perhaps He will explain tomorrow, but as of today, please feel free to hurt and speak out loudly. He will not be offended.
Love always,
Scarlette
Thank you Scott and Scarlette for your responses. I am trying to be pleasing to God no matter what I am going through and you both encouraged me. Would you both please breathe a prayer for me? If you could see me in the spiritual realm you would see me with my armor of God on, bruised and broken. You would see I am having trouble even standing. I need more strength to fight. I want to give up, but I know that’s not faith. I’ve always hated drama…and I have never been a negative person. For 50 years I have danced with Jesus through every trial and heartache. Please please please pray for me. It hurts every waking minute.
Jenn,
We will pray. You are stronger in Christ than you realize. He’s not punishing you for past sins. I believe he is quite proud of the way you have danced with him over the course of your life. Know that he loves you more than you can imagine.
Thanks Emily. This really helped. I’ve have been waiting to hear God’s voice since 2008. I hope all is well with you now.
Hey Mark,
I hope things got better over the years. Ive been in the same situation since 2008.
-Chrissy
Hello SugarSuzane,
I’ve been in the same situation for quite some time. Has anything changed?
-Chrissy
Greetings to host
As long as we are here on earth we will meet challenges and fortunately for us christians is dat we dont live by sight but by faith. Faith help us to know our God more. We are not saved by our feelings and i am not saying we are not prone to difficulties, all i know is dat as a child of God u dont go through alone. God promised to never leave us or forsake us, He doesnt lie. His mercy endures forever, difficult moment will pass just hold on to my God dats all He wants. He is working it out for u. Brethren keep faith in God and walk by faith!
TWO RESOURCES to consider if God has seeminly been silent in your life …
1. Read the October 11 message in Oswald Chamber’s daily devotional, “My Utmost For His Highest.”
2. Listen to the 6 April 2014 message by Carter Conlon, “Staying Strong When God is Silent” ( http://www.tscnyc.org/media_center.php?pg=sermons )
I first found this blog page over two years ago when I was in the midst of deep despair over God’s “silence” in my life. There was nothing, no voice, no leading, no affirmation, no feelings–nothing. Today, more than two years later, God remains “silent.” But what a change there has been! My faith is greater and my knowledge of Him deeper than ever before. Those long, dark nights of the soul are beginning to yield their fruit in my life. I have found that God speaks as clearly in His “silence” as He would if in an audible voice. He says: “Come closer, dig deeper, reach higher.” It is not “positive thinking,” or convincing yourself that such and such is true when it’s obviously not. It is a matter of learning to take God at His Word. I no longer despair over His silence (well, sometimes, a little), but have come to know Him in His Word and appropriate His promises BY FAITH–without which it is impossible to please Him. Read Hebrews 10:35-39. Then read it again, and again, and again, until it saturates your mind and heart. Then read chapter 11. God is right here, right now. In Him we live, and move, and have our being.
Good evening, Wade. I am happy for you. You seem to be in a strong, faith filled place. I am happy for you. I am not there yet, and I doubt that I will always be there. Still, I am happy for you.
Scarlette
Like many others, I came across this website after googling about unanswered prayer and not understanding where God is. I have been a Christian for many years and really love God. Yet, in the past few years I have felt deeply wounded over God’s lack of response and what could almost be felt as his indifference. It’s hard sometimes to pray when even prayer seems to be powerless. You know you shouldn’t feel without hope as a Christian, but what do you do when you cry out again and again and there is no response? At times it challenges the very core of your faith. Does God really exist? If so, why won’t he intervene?
Then I found this site and read the accounts of other people who were going through the same thing. It was so refreshing not to be greeted with cliches by well meaning people. Instead, it was like walking into a room of friends and not feeling alone any more. Such honesty and warmth, iI was very humbling. I just wanted to add own comment to thank everyone for their honesty. Years after the blog was first written, and yet it is still helping people.
This evening I also came across a short video from The Artist Bible, based on Matthew 26-27. For me personally it really helped, as it helped get things into perspective. Also, reminding me that although I don’t always understand God, He really does care for us. Hope it helps. http://youtu.be/6WIb2G1EHMY
Thanks for the kind words, Jen. It is hard to be a human being. We need to huddle a little around the campfires we can find and warm our hands together.
God Bless you Katherine Weston for those wonderful words – I myself have been through HARD times and YES GOD always brings us thru. When going thru hard times you don’t Understand, however, once it’s over you always look back and praise GOD. I believe it with all my Heart, however, once again at this tiem I am going thru financial Hard times and with all that GOD has shown me I still at time get discourage, then I snap out of it because I know GOD will get me thru this and when I least expect it, I will be Thanking HIM with all my Heart over and over!
GOD Bless you~
Barbbie
I feel so empty i have four kids youngest 2 yr old twins tgeir dad left us yet again said its not worth the fight any longer everytime he has left us i have come so close to God but in these past few days i dont feel him i question so much when i got pregnant with the twins i was still married to my first husband the twins dad didnt wanna stay with me if the divorcWasnt done so i got that done asap not just for him for me too he was a alcoholic tho i didnt wanna be in another relationship it was chaos the guy said i need to abort my mind said yea the shame id bring to my family def have to abort and prrtend like nothing happened i had an honest talk with God i begged for his forgiveness in all i had done i told God i will keep this baby even if it meant losing this man but i told God i dont know what u wan. Unless u prove to me if this is two babies i will keep them ….long story short God had a laugh that day boy/ girl twins for me …. their dad didnt wanna stay around he had been lied to in his marriage about that child being his then it turned out the lady said it wasnt and she left him ….he was broken from that his parents went thru a divorce in the same time we got pregnant and he wasnt working he said he cant help ….he eventually came around he tried he met my older kids he felt it was going to be ok my dad which is where i was living raised us as christians he went through so much and in the end found God better then before …. so my dad didnt allow the guy to the house he had no job mot doing anything didnt get a job till a week after the twins were born he went to talk to my dad but my dad was firm basically if this guy wanted to see me and the kids he would have toget us a place together ….after the twins were 7 months we finally got a place i raised them alone for that time took them out to visit their dad almost daily it was tough but we finally got a place…. the guy never did his divorce put it off and off but would say one day we would be married he started going to church and started to see what he needed to do but he left us for seven weeks then got close with God he has anger issues family issues mental issues u name it he has it he leaves and stays drunk the whole time but didnt drink here …. i know that all through this we have both been wrong divorces sex before marriage we tried to turn to God he opened in a way i never seen God everything then he left and came back different drinking all the time lying to me fighting about crazy things so he leaves last reason was a argument of him and my sister at our house and she brought up the fact he leaves us all the time he flipped he turned on me because i didnt support him or defend him against my sister crazy nonsense stuff i have stayed and stayed i had to quit my job because vision problems and crying breaking down too much missed too much work so now im without the guy no job no idea how ima pay anything killing myself has made more sense then anything and this guy says things about not needing me some of the most evil things my family says move on but it is so hard i have never felt this feeling ever never did i feel god say give up before though we are not married i believed we could turn this mess around and make it right idk what im doing anymore i hear all the time let go and let god idk how to hear from him daily im gettimg more depressed and losing hope that maybe i am to give up on this guy i know i cant save him only god can just idk what it is that god wants me to do now i know this guy has done me and the kids so wrong why am i still holding on? Why wont god change my heart towards this man i dont wanna hate him i wanna be ok without him …. idk what good will come out of this pain never in my life have i hurt so bad …. my first marriage was rough for 6 yrs in the end it had to happen …. i know i have confessed all my sins i have tried to keep all my relationships good idk what god wants from bible says we all have a purpose but through my life i have not seen it i know this is gods way of getting my atyention but it hurts i truly wanna die and he is just a guy ! But i hold on because there is nothing else to do i hold on to god because there is no one else i wonder is he there or do people just get thru their problems and thank god becausewho knows ….i know deep in my heart i cant not think gods not there but man this is hurting and not stopping i need a job i need to pay rent and bills theres four kids here and idk what to do anymore ….. all the other aside he was my best friend he wasnt always a monster he made me happy and loved the kids but he always left so maybe he never loved us idk pray for us all especially my babies pray that god gives me the strength to be a amazing mom thru all this
Good morning, everyone. I have found these two prayers (Novena) to be miracle workers. I am so sorry for not posting it earlier. This page was so helpful for me when I needed it. Please forgive me. I know that things can be quite hard and hopeless sometimes, but please humor me and try it. Please, just try it. Please.
These two Novenas can be completed in 9 hours or 9 days. If you are doing the 9 days, then say the prayer every day, at the same time for 9 straight days.
If you are doing the 9 hour Novena, then say the complete prayer at the top of the hour for 9 straight hours, E.g. If you start at 6pm, you will finish at 3pm. (Some people mistakenly end at 2pm which is not a complete 9 hour prayer :))
The idea is to storm Heaven with your cries and pleas and “force” God to answer you. I believe that the idea comes from Luke 11, 5-13 (Yes, Scarlette is quoting a Bible verse) which states as follows:
“And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.”
Prayer 1: This is a 9 hour or nine day Novena. For this prayer, I have found the 9 hour format to work the best.
INFANT BABY JESUS OF PRAGUE NOVENA
aka The Storm Novena or The Flying Novena
Jesus, You said, “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.” Through the intercession of Mary, Your holy Mother, I knock, I seek. I ask that my prayer be granted. (state your specific request or intention here!)
Jesus, You said, “All that you ask of the Father in My name, He will grant you.” Through the intercession of Mary, Your holy Mother, I humbly and urgently ask Your Father in Your name that my prayer be granted. (state your specific request or intention here!)
Jesus, You said. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not pass.” Through the intercession of Mary, Your holy Mother, I feel confident that my prayer will be granted. (state your specific request or intention here!)
I prostrate myself before Thy Holy Image, O most gracious Infant Jesus, to offer thee my most fervant thanks for the blessings Thou hast bestowed upon me. I shall incessantly praise Thine ineffable mercy and confess that Thou alone art my God, my Helper and my Protector. Henceforth, my entire confidence shall be placed in Thee! Everywhere, I shall proclaim aloud Thy mercy and generosity, so that Thy great Love and the great deeds which Thou dost perform through this miraculous image may be acknowledged by all. May devotion to Thy Holy Infancy increase more and more in the hearts of all Christians, and may all who experience Thine assistance persevere with me in showing unceasing gratitude to Thy Most Holy Infancy, to which be praise and glory forever. Amen
Thank you, Infant Baby Jesus of Prague and the Sacred Heart of Jesus for granting my request. I will always be dedicated to You Dear Jesus and have faith that You will always be by my side. Your faithful servant (state your name).
Prayer 2:This is supposed to be like Prayer 1, but it has only worked for me when I did a 9 day format. Please don’t ignore this prayer because it is not going directly to God. You are not praying to St. Jude. Rather, you are asking him to help you pray. It is the same as asking a friend to help you pray. This is actually a very powerful prayer. Thank you for listening.
Novena to Saint Jude:
Saint Jude, glorious apostle, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the name of the traitor has caused you to be forgotten by many. But the Church honors and invokes you universally as the patron of difficult and desperate cases. Pray for me, who I’m so miserable. Make use, I implore you, of that particular privilege accorded to you to bring visible and speedy help where help was almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations and sufferings, particularly — (here make your request) — and that I may bless God with you and all the elect throughout all eternity.
I promise you, O blessed SAINT JUDE, to be ever mindful of this great favor, and I will never cease to honor you as my special and powerful patron and do all in my power to encourage devotion to you. Amen.
Saint Jude, pray for us and for all who honor you and invoke your aid.
(Say the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be to the Father, 3 times.)
Thank you, everyone.
Who is he who fears the Lord, and obeys the voice of His servant, and walks in darkness, and has no light; let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God. Despise not the chastening of the Lord. The Israelites were put into an iron furnace. These are God’s very words. He put them in an iron furnace. They complained consistently because the way was extremely difficult. They had reason to complain. God marches them in the wilderness with no food and no water. The children are complaining they are thirsty and hungry. It is hot and sweaty. Nothing but desert. That is enough to make anyone angry with God. And we can do that. Or we can do what Joshua and Caleb did; believe God despite outward proof that God doesn’t give a flip. It is a lie from Satan. God allows it to prove our faith, to expose our hearts, and to bring us out to a rich place in Him. There is no shortcut here. God is very tough, unbendable, strict when it comes to perfecting us. Look how tough He was with Jesus. Jesus was perfected by suffering. He knew the dark night of the soul in a way that no one on earth has ever suffered. I have suffered long, long, decades of the dark night of the soul, but what is that to what Jesus suffered. Glory to God. How else will I come to know Him. How else will I understand His love for me? Though He slay me, after I wickedly get over bitterly complaining, I trust in Him. I remember the Spirit instructing me in a special way that God is faithful. I wondered at the time what was in store for me, because these kind of revelations come to me for what is coming down the road, and what is coming down the road is nothing I want. I have learned something in all these years of darkness. First, how wicked I really am. How self centered and selfish I am with my dealings with God. God give me this. God heal me. God give me a job. God heal my dog. Second, God has a way of squeezing out of us desperate prayers, and God is so happy to answer them. Third, God is very firm. Paul desperately prayed to God to remove the thorn in the flesh. Paul knew the power of God to heal. Yet God said no. My power is made perfect in weakness. Paul through beatings, reproaches, stoning and all hell breaking lose, learned to glory in his afflictions and loving the darkness because he knew the secret, that then he could know God. To know Christ we not only must know Him in His resurrection, but also in His death. My power is made known in weakness. God is making us weak so we can experience the power of God. He has a lot of Me and I to weed out. God has a purpose in this darkness we face, where the devil is trying to get us to quit. Just yesterday I prayed to the Lord and asked Him for power to endure through this for without You oh Lord, I cannot. But not only me, but for all my kin in the Lord who face the same darkness I face. Give us strength in our inner beings for all patience and faith in You. Cause us to endure. No bells or whistles, but suddenly I just knew a resolve to follow Christ no matter what. God is truly our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Despite overwhelming proof that God is nowhere around, His word says I will never leave you, nor forsake you. So despite all the convincing lies of Satan, I believe God. I choose to believe God. And to God be the glory who has seen my helpless state and, while leaving me in the darkness, has helped His servant even to this very day. Good book to read about a christian put in prison for 14 years for spanking a child, and how he learned the ways of God through this awful experience. It is called, The Embrace of Grace, written by Caleb Thompson. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Grace and peace to you.
We must listen to the Lord that we are in a mighty struggle against the power of Satan and his angels. We are not capable in ourselves. Only by relying on the Lord are we able. The enemy is relentless against us. There is no letup in this life. Yet the Lord actually shields us from the full force of Satan’s attacks, and only allows through what is used to build into our lives what is well pleasing to God. So the truth is our afflictions are light compared to what they could be. Yet, even so, I tell the Lord from time to time, Lord this is tough. This is so hard. The darkness never ends, yet my heart knows full well how faithful God is to me — how merciful. We need fellowship with the Lord our great Shepherd. We need to cast our souls upon Him in absolute reliance. We need to continually give Him thanks.
Devour the Word of God, stay dedicated to prayer for the saints. Walk with God. We are soldiers for the Lord, but our weapons are not of this world. However, only communion with the Lord is what gets us through this awful darkness. He is there. He is faithful. He said from His very mouth, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. Let us believe our
God who is faithful and true. Faithful is He who will do it.
Loving God and staying in the love of God is vital every single day. He never stops loving us, but if we love the world we stop loving the Father. The world is not the physical world, the trees, water, sky. The world is not humanity, for God loves men. When we say world, we mean the World of Sin. The world includes all activities and endeavors that put us in a position of being easily tempted to sin against God or drift away. We work in this world every day, and when we come home, it is vital that we touch base with the Lord to allow Him to cleanse us from any inroads the world has made in us. We must do this every day. I am at my most vulnerable self just after work. I need to get into His Word and allow Him to speak to me. I confess any known and unknown sin. We come to our High Priest who has provided the propitiation for our sins. We have access by the blood of the Lamb. That is our only standing. And because that is our standing, God is our Father, better than any father on earth. We must not lose sight of this when darkness hides His lovely face. We can be assured that He will never leave us nor forsake us. This is the walk of faith that overcomes the WORLD. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Jesus says, Abide in Me. Yes Lord, this is our desire, to abide in you. Show us how to do this. We cling to You.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LMQfOp9w8k&feature=related
1Pe 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
This verse has meant much to me in the face of persecution from those who later admitted that they did this because I was a Christian when afterward by the Spirit they were open to hear the things of God. When God seems far away, He is not. When it seems our prayers bounce off the ceiling, they do not. When it feels God has abandoned us, He is with us. When we have a hard time believing God has truly forgiven us, He says His forgiveness is unreasonable, so accept it. Absolute surrender of our heart to God in the midst of darkness, discomfort, and pain is safe because, though the trial linger, and linger, and linger, God is faithful. God is faithful. He never changes, ever. He is the same as when we are on the mountain top as when we are in the valley of death. Even if we are unfaithful, He remains faithful. Therefore we can trust in the Lord no matter how much darkness and soul pain we suffer, by the will of our loving Father, who works in us a certain sense of worthiness for the enduring city we are destined for. Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it. I never knew when God said to seek Him, and my heart said, yes, Lord I seek you, that the path would turn so dark. After so much of this, I told the Lord that I was tired of seeking Him. I wanted to find Him, for a change. The Lord is so stubborn. He does not bend. It is His way or the highway kind of thing. So the darkness is not as bad as it used to be. He has enlarged my heart. He is changing me, and when I lose my way, there He is, picking me up, my lover of my soul. I know that God loves me, which is an amazing thing because there is nothing to love. Nothing. It took a long time to realize that God loves me, because I could see ME. Sinful, wicked. I knew it was totally unreasonable for God to forgive and love me. Then He whispered to my soul, My Forgiveness is unreasonable, and He showed me the wonder of the greatness of the Blood of Jesus our Lord. Then in my heart, at that moment, arose a great desire to never sin against my wonderful God. Oh that those moments would stay fresh always. So remembering them by the Spirit is useful for our faith in the darkness. We see in ourselves a proneness to wander. So daily we cling to our faithful, faithful God. We stay in the Word of God. Lord teach us to really pray. Work in us that which is well pleasing in Your sight. We have no confidence in the flesh. Amen.
Man shall not live by food alone. He must also live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. The Word of God is the light in the darkness we are in, and the light to find our way through this darkness. The Lord is perfecting our faith. Faith that flourished in mountaintop experiences, now must flourish in the valley of death. The narrow way is indeed difficult. But it yields the peaceable fruit of an interior intimacy with the Lord. The things we must watch for and repent of is discouragement that causes us to distrust the Lord, which leads to coldness and drifting. God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He not said and will He not do? God has said that He will never forsake us. Faith is believing His word despite the darkness and the lies of our enemies, because His word is the true reality. Many times upon awakening, I feel that God is not anywhere near. I sing over and over: Living by faith in Jesus above; trusting confiding in His great love. From all harm safe; in His sheltering arms; I’m living by faith and feel no alarm. Then I think of scripture: Fear not for I am with thee; be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee; Behold I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. I am your keeper; I preserve your soul; I will preserver your going out and your coming in from this time forth and even forever more. Then I sing On Christ the Solid Rock I stand. Now I am ready to pray and seek the Lord. I have learned not to think on the darkness or the feeling God is not there. Instead sing and meditate and pray. Then go out your door with a Gospel or two of John and be ready for whomever the Lord leads you to. Do not allow yourself to think and meditate on the thoughts the Devil wants you to think on. He is a liar, and of course he is going to say God has forsaken you and will go out of his way to try to prove it. Forget him. Lean on the Lord who is mighty to save. Though the Lord chastises in order to perfect us, it is for our good. Praise Him! And when we get overwhelmed, and we do, the Lord is the lifter of our heads.We trust in Him, Hallelujah. See Jesus at the right hand of God with the Ephod on, with the two stones on His shoulders with our names on them, representing us before the Father. His blood continually cleanses us from all sin. The choice is before us every day. Whom will you serve? As for me and you, we will serve the Lord. Amen.
Behold He is coming with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so. Amen.
I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE END. says the Lord, WHO IS AND WHO WAS AND WHO IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY.
And His name shall be called:
Jehovah our righteousness
Immanuel
Prince of Peace
Mighty God
Everlasting Father
Jesus
Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, THAT YOU MAY BE TESTED, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
That you may be tested > Be faithful to the end.
The entrance of Thy Words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Think it not strange the thing that shall try you. The Lord does perfect you. The devil has come against you in many ways. His power is defeated. The Lord will perfect you and put you into His harness to pull your share of the load. The Lord shall use you to share His love with others. The Lord shall put words in your mouth that others may understand. There will be an ease in speaking, and the joy of the LORD shall be your portion.
Oh Lord, there is nothing in me [by which I can be good]
Don’t say there is nothing in you. I will make a vessel of you for My use.
I have seen the Lord, and His holy name is Jesus, and He will reign forever. Jesus is alive. He is truly risen.
The Lord searches the heart and knows the depth of our souls. When we have a feeling that we cannot be forgiven; when guilt is in the warp and woof of our being, then God whispers to me, My forgiveness is unreasonable, and then the Spirit displays the power of the Blood. Though my sins are like scarlet, they shall be as as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Lord I want to know the truth. Only the truth. Some say you cannot lose your salvation; others say you can lose your salvation. I read in your Word and in some places it says you can lose your salvation, but in other verses it seems you cannot lose your salvation. Which is it? I want to know the truth. But if you tell me I can lose my salvation, then there is no hope for me.
The Lord’s response: For the Lord will not cast off His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
Are you willing to die? Lord I am willing to be willing. I stood before the door of commitment. I could not enter. I wanted to enter but could not. I was too afraid. For weeks I stood before that door. Lord I am willing to be willing to be willing. Help me to be willing. So one day while witnessing to a young man, a door appeared before me. An arm reached out and grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me through. Since then I have reflected that I am going to die anyway, so it may as well be doing God’s will. Those who draw back and deny the Lord in the face of persecution and affliction will die too. Oh Lord help us to never turn back. By the Spirit we say, we will never turn back. Never turn back. Never, never, never turn back. The grace of my God helping us. Glory to God, He has put a stop in us, a resolute stop. In our inner being at the deepest core. We cannot deny the Lord. This is the Lord’s doing. Glory and honor and power be to His name. But it is necessary to suffer by the will of God. We must get the Word of God richly in us. It is by His word we stand. Devour the Word while it is day, for the night comes.
Amen! God allows us to suffer, then He mends us. Then He sends us out to help others. Not only must we dive into the Word of God, but we need to really pray, intercede, to care for what God cares about. Oh Lord, none of us are able in ourselves. Help us Lord to truly walk with You. Amen. Let it be Lord. Amen.
The devil gets to be too much at times. It is enough to make a man angry. So we do those things he hates. We pray, we witness, we proclaim Jesus. I have a pickup truck. On one side of the rear bumper it says: God laid on Jesus the sin of us all. On the other side it says: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Often cars speed up and get real close to read the bumper stickers. Glory to God. Sometimes the Lord sends me out to the neighborhoods and I hand out gospels of John and witness about the Lord. Now that goes strictly against the flesh. However, when I go it always is a blessed time. It never fails; God always has a divine appointment out there. I just need to get out there more. Yet, I never forget one thing. The Holy Spirit. It is only by Him. Period. Only God gets the glory because He alone is worthy. No one else is worthy. Only God. Only Jesus. Hallelujah. One time I was going out and the Lord was not in it. I returned home and went to the Lord. I asked Him why I could not go today. The Spirit revealed to me my sneaky hidden agenda to glorify myself. Some church found out about me and made a big fuss over me. When the Spirit revealed to me my hidden sneaky glorifying of self, I was devastated. I said to the Lord, Lord there is no end to my flesh. So I was depressed for a day or so. After that the Spirit conveyed to me, that that was enough moping around. Go out to the streets again. I obeyed and it was unbelievable what God was doing. So many divine appointments that day. But I have come square against something here in this town. Sleepy half dead churches. I need God’s direction. I must wait upon Him and pray until God shows me what He wants done here. I need a church where you can take people and they will grow in the Lord. A church with a pastor that is devoted to the Lord Jesus and not building his own kingdom. Churches stay within their four walls. A young woman across the street from one church walked over to the church and committed suicide near a dumpster. They only found the body when they emptied the trash. Doesn’t that just break your heart.
I want to just praise the Lord, this really help me out alot. Im a Pastor of a littel country church been preaching for about 7 years now. I have really been haveing trouble with the same promblem also, But always knew that there is a reason for it.. Think God for my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Sounds like devils have swarmed you…..either that, or you are not actually born again. As a believer, we should be hearing from God daily. Perhaps He is being silent in regards to certain questions you want answered, but He shouldn’t be silent all the time about everytihing. Perhaps a person is not born again if they have never heard Him speak, after all, Jesus said “My sheep hear My voice”.
Scarlette, I don’t believe in negotiating with terrorists, and devils are terrorists. Devils get us depressed, sad, hopeless, discouraged, etc. And if people would just spend 3-5 hours a day praying in tongues, we wouldn’t be so foolishly pathetic as Christians. I mean, people get their arms cut off for being Christians in Somolia, yet we here in America are “so sad” because “God isn’t talking to us”. How about spending a few hours a day in prayer, and shutting off everything else in your life. The same people who tell me “I don’t hear God” also wince when I ask them what their prayer life is like. I’m tired of the false shepherd cauddlers who try to make people feel ok about being a weak Christian with no prayer life. People who don’t “hear” God, should question their own salvation, and the fact that you would appeal to me to not warn another person of these things is a strong indicator of the type of Christian you are. Listen hear Scarlet, I’ve lead 24 people to Christ in the past month, and all of it was done while working a 60 hour a week job and witnessing throughout my day…..PWR comes through prayer, not through letting people feel sorry for themselves. YOur type of Christianity is why 80% of the 65 million abortions in America have been professing Christians. Perhaps your living live in some Oprah WHinfrey, God wants to make your life better, delusion. Do you how many of the Apostles were martyred? ANd we have AMerican Christians who would dare to complain about anything and everything, and turn to medication rather than Jesus. Yes, I am going on a rant, because I am utterly disgusted by the type of weak-willed, man pleasing, religious deliusion that so-called christians embrace in America these days. How about you Scarlet, what does your prayer life look like? How much time do you spend on your knees every day seeking the face of the King?
Frank, you must not read the Bible much. The entire Scriptures are full of Yahweh/Yahshua rebuking his people for not seeking Him with a pure heart. Let’s get somthing straight Frank, Matthew Mark Luke & John work! If they are not working for a person, then the person is not doing them. God is no respecter of persons, so He is not arbitrarily ignoring Scarlett or Susan or anyone on this BLog. If you are Born again, then He lives o the inside of you!! If you are Born Again, then you are Echad/One with the Father….how could He ignore Himself. Sounds like the people on this blog have been taught about some pretend God who is far off in the sky somewhere and might forget about people sometimes…..but that’s not the gospel…..the gospel is “Christ in you! The hope of Glory!” If you are Born again, and yet you feel a million miles away from God, then you probably need to repent and seek his face in prayer….I said seek his face in prayer, not in “whining”. Sheesh, you guys are making Christians look bad, like God is not with us! But God is certainly with us and will never leave us or forsake us!! Does anyone on this blog actually read and believe the Scriptures, or is this the Blog for pew sitter Christians who do not know God and simply like to bitch about life? Frank, when was the last time you spent 3-5 hours per day in prayer for 6 months straight?
Tina, you are making my point for me. Why are all these Christians still acting like 3-4 year olds when they ought to be mature by now? Either they need to grow up, or perhaps they are not born again. BUt you seem to think I am “beating” “God’s children” because I am not kissing their flesh the way you want me to. It’s funny to me how the Westernized Christian Church has tried to turn every man into a femenized version of Gahandi. Tina, I have to words for you “Grow Up”. Jesus is not coming back for a bunch of weak willed, whinning, idol worshippers who spend more time watching TV then praying. How about you…..do you spend more time in set aside prayer, or more time watching TV? I doubt you’ll be truthful with your answer, for fear of humiliation……instead you’ll probably continue on in your “Christian walk” ignoring God in the realm of prayer and then wondering “where God went……oh oh poor me”. I don’t play “poor me” Tina, and neither should you.
Tina, you are making my point for me. Why are all these Christians still acting like 3-4 year olds when they ought to be mature by now? Either they need to grow up, or perhaps they are not born again. BUt you seem to think I am “beating” “God’s children” because I am not kissing their flesh the way you want me to. It’s funny to me how the Westernized Christian Church has tried to turn every man into a femenized version of Gahandi. Tina, I have to words for you “Grow Up”. Jesus is not coming back for a bunch of weak willed, whinning, idol worshippers who spend more time watching TV then praying. How about you…..do you spend more time in set aside prayer, or more time watching TV? I doubt you’ll be truthful with your answer, for fear of humiliation……instead you’ll probably continue on in your “Christian walk” ignoring God in the realm of prayer and then wondering “where God went……oh oh poor me”. I don’t play “poor me” Tina, and neither should you.
Tina, grab a pen and take some notes, because you need a theology lesson. THe first Passover in Egypt was a Picture of a believers need for the blood of the Lamb to cover their sins, the Israelites crossing through the parted seas was a picture of baptism and cleansing, but after Salvation and Baptism, we find part 3 which is Instruction from Mount Sinai. After a person is saved and baptized, they need to be instructed because “The Torah makes the simple man mature”. Our maturity is absolutely dependent on our willingness to work on our relationship with Yahweh. THe man who prays and reads the Word will grow faster then the man who watches TV more then he prays. And the man who not only prays and reads the Word, but actually does the Word with all of his heart, will grow more then the person who prays and reads but is not a “doer of the Torah of Liberty”. The reason why we have so much immaturity in the Body of Christ is because of false doctrine that has pitted Law vs. Grace, rather than recognizing that the 2 work hand in hand like a bow and an arrow as stated in Zecharaia 9:13 “For I will bend Judah as My bow, I will fill the bow with Ephraim. And I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece; And I will make you like a warrior’s sword”. Your probably a Christian who embraces the Christmas Tree and Easter eggs, but knows nothing of Yahweh’s precepts, Yahweh’s Holy-days (holidays), Yahweh’s definition of maturity. You say you fear God? DO you who fear God dismiss His Holy days? You probably sit in your church and listen to your 3 songs and a sermon, and then walk away, not realizing that you are being taught another Jesus who has blond hair and blue eyes and acts like a “peace” loving hippie.
But it sounds to me like you are judging me. Ironic, it’s like you are judging me for judging. This is typical of Westernized Christians who know very little about the God they claim to serve…..they are extremly hypocritical in their judgements, and because of this they “discern the Body of Christ wrong” and “many are even dying” because of it. It would do you well to seek out the teachings of Eddie Chumney….he would be a good start for you….listen to his 21 part teaching called “Yahshua: from Genesis to Revelation”. You’ll thank me one day 🙂
Tina, does that “Jesus in your heart” tell you to bring a Christmas tree into your house every year? Does He tell you to celebrate Easter/Ishtar the goddess of fertility with bunny’s and eggs? I don’t believe that you have the real Jesus. The Jesus from the Bible would never tell you to violate His Commandments.
Ok, so then I guess you do celebrate the Birthday of the SunGod, and bring Christmas Trees into your house, and celebrate Ishtar the goddess of fertility. THat makes sense……that’s what I thought. Like I said, sounds like you and I are serving a different Jesus.MY Jesus is not a femenized, non-confrontational, hippie from the 60’s who flashed a peace sign to His disciples. My Yahshua said, “He who has My Commandments and Keeps them is the one who loves Me” (A direct quote by the way, by Jesus, from Exodus Ch 20). And in His Word, 1 john says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His Commandments”. Your love is sentimental Tina, but the Love of GOd is active, and aternal, and it warns us about bringing idols into our homes and “worshipping Yahweh in the same manner that other nations worship their gods”. So don’t tell me you love Yahshua, and yet don’t keep his Commandments. 1 John would tell me that you are a liar.
Tina, I know a lot of people who quote that verse from Jeremiah and then still bring Christmas Trees into their house. Just like I know many many “Pastors” who teach all kinds of things from the pulpit, but who don’t spend much time in prayer themselves. But TIna, I have a hunch you are a Christmas Tree person. DId you bring a Christmas Tree into your house this past Christmas?
Jenn, “a broken and contrite heart” is what He is bringing forth from you and this is beautiful in His sight. Hang in there….my sense is that Yahweh is actually rewarding your faithfulness by giving you an opportunity to find favor with Him according to 1 Peter 2:20-21. Yahweh says “DO not despise the day of small beginnings, for I am doing a new thing in the depths of your heart, and though you cannot see it now, you will know and have understanding in the days, week, months and years ahead.” I also feel like He wants to bring you into deeper understanding of His Word. if you go to http://www.ihophb.com and click on the link that says “Hebrew Roots” and then click on the link that says “Yeshua: from Genesis to Revelation” you will be blessed by what you discover. -SHalom!