Apr
03
We had a Sunday school lesson last week that was particularly good I thought and I’ve been pondering on it ever since. The teacher (hubs) asked if we’d ever heard anyone say that they felt like their prayers weren’t going any higher than the ceiling…..in other words, we feel like God isn’t answering us or maybe we aren’t getting the answer we want. The passage we read was John 11; when Lazarus was sick and dying his two sisters sent for Jesus to come make him well. Jesus heard their request (prayer) and yet He stayed where He was 2 more days. He didn’t answer right away or come rushing back when they sent for Him. So what they heard was silence, which we usually take to mean that God hasn’t heard us. There was silence at Mary and Martha’s house for four days. God’s silences are His answers, sometimes one of the best answers to prayer. Just as it is important for us to be able to trust God, so it is important for God to be able to trust us. Has He trusted you with a silence, a silence that is huge with meaning? Can He trust us like that with a silence or will we keep on asking for a visible answer? If we keep on asking He might give it to us; insistence upon the blessing that we desire might be the denial of the blessing that HE desires for us. If He has given us a silence, then He has trusted us in a very intimate way and is bringing us into more of an understanding of His purposes, and into a closer relationship with Him. God does hear our prayers, we might hear silence…….can He trust me or you with that?
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:21 am
Such profound thoughts here, Gail…and so important for all of us to grasp! God sees what we do not see…
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:27 am
So true! Good thoughts!!
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:52 am
So very true and I am often so impatient. I love that He trusts us with silence. Never thought of it that way before. Enjoyed reading this. Thanks for stopping by with such wonderfully kind words!
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:36 pm
Wow! Well spoken and well written. It’s very true and a very hard lesson to handle. I always want an immediate answer, but I have to remind myself that God’s timing isn’t my timing. Sometimes His timing is painful for me, but His answer is always the best.
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
That is huge, Gail. I never quite thought about it like that. God trusting us with a silence. That is very profound.
April 4th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Do you think God’s silence goes along with being still and just knowing He is God?
When my hubby and I were dating, he used to pick me up, and being the extrovert that I am, I would start conversations only for him to listen and not say a thing!! (He’s an introvert!!) One day, I got mad at him and asked him why he doesn’t participate in our conversations 🙂 and he finally said, “It should be a compliment to you that I can just “be” in your presence. I don’t feel the need to fill the silence with talk that doesn’t mean a thing.” I’ve thought about that over the years. And, after 14 years of marriage, I love his silence. It means we’re ok, and life is ok, and there’s no need to mess it up-let’s just be together and let that be enough. My hubby has personified God to me in so many ways, and I think this has been another one.
On another note, why the link to MC on your side bar? I’m sure you have a post on it somewhere, but this is my first time here, and I haven’t looked around yet. I found you through Grace and Hope.
April 4th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Hi Gail, Thank you for stopping by my place! I’m so glad I came over to visit you, you have some great posts here. I’m glad you all had such a good time skiing out here — the baby is beautiful, by the way. Loved the thought in today’s post — God trusting us with his silence. I will have to ponder that, as waiting for answers isn’t something I do well. Oh, and I LOVE White Christmas! Recognized the song right away! Looking forward to reading more of your posts.
Karen
April 4th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Great post Gail! Very well thought out and well written. You’re right and sometimes we all need reminding of this. Sometimes no answer is the best answer of all. It’s God knowing what is best for us even when we do not, and not giving us what we are asking for, or thinking we need in our life.
I hate to compare it to a country song, but there’s a song I love by Garth Brooks called “Unanswered Prayers”, that basically says the same thing, in a twangy cowboy kind of way 🙂 Sometimes what we pray for or think we need is not part of God’s plan for us, and what we see as an unanswered prayer or silence is really His way of taking care of us, according to His plan.
Is the title referring to the Simon and Garfunkel song? 🙂
April 4th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Yeah Stacy, Simon & Garfunkel! You got it!
“Hello darkness, my old friend,I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence”
April 6th, 2007 at 7:59 am
I always loved that S&G song! And this is an excellent post. Wow! I have been reading a lot about prayer and silence but never connected silence from God in this way. I will definitely be mulling over this one for a while!!