In my previous post, I said that there are times when God is silent. In particular, I used the illustration that unanswered prayers are somewhat like being ghosted by the Holy Ghost. That makes “Ghosting” sound infrequent. However, the glaring truth in Scripture is that God regularly “Ghosts” His people. We preach sermons and lead Bible studies focusing on what God says and to whom He says it. Do we also notice when He’s not speaking and the people He never speaks to?
- God promised Abraham that his numerous descendants would be enslaved in Egypt for 400 years through no fault of their own. (Gen. 15:13) That will preach! But we have no record that He said boo to the people when they were enslaved. (Everyone loves a good pun!) Jennifer May writes:
- Joseph didn’t hear from God for 22 years after his brothers sold him into slavery. 22 years? After that experience? What was he supposed to think?
- God spoke to His people after He brought them into the Promised Land…but often to reprimand them.
- The Psalmist lifts his voice and cries, “Oh God, do not remain silent.” (Psalm 83:1) and, “How long, oh Lord, how long? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1) Perhaps we should rewrite “Love lifted me!” to “God ghosted me!” because that seems like what the Psalmist is feeling.
- Even Jesus experienced the sobering reality. His appearance ended 400 years (!) of silence, but when He hung on the cross, Israel’s song rolled off His lips. “My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22, Matthew 27:46) He who died in the place of humanity felt – like we do – that He had been ghosted.
Ghosted
If the Old Testament covers 1,500 years, there’s no way to record everything in one book. That’s fair. Nonetheless, there are generations where God is silent.
Some people are uncomfortable acknowledging God’s silence. They try to justify it by saying:
- When God is silent, consider it a “pregnant pause” that builds anticipation for what He will say.
- God is silent when we are disobedient. He will not speak again until we repent.
- He isn’t going to speak because He knows we aren’t going to listen.
While any of those might be true, they also confirm God is often quiet. It’s hard to know whether He has nothing to say or simply chooses not to say it.
What would our faith look like if we expected God to remain still? He told us to “be still and know that He is god.” Is that because He chose not to speak over our noise? What if the picture of a speechless God was normal? What if we expected God to be a silent bystander throughout much of our lives? That’s a tough pill to swallow!
Accepting the Silence
What might it be like to live with a more introverted God than the extroverted one we imagine Him to be?
- Prayer – we wouldn’t feel guilty about doing all the talking in our prayers because we know that God often chooses not to speak.
- Devotions – we wouldn’t expect that every time we opened our Bibles, we would have a strong sense that God was speaking to us, and we wouldn’t be ashamed that we weren’t “convicted.”
- Worship – we would be disappointed but not feel like we had failed (or the Praise Team had failed!) when we feel down before, during, and after the service.
Read between the lines in Scripture. You will find countless instances where God doesn’t appear to be doing or saying anything. I don’t like it either. But what if part of God’s self-revelation is the disturbing reality that He will often choose not to speak or act? Can we live with that? Would life be better or worse?
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