the years of silence

Hi. I’m impatient. I was told once that the amount of patience contained in my body wouldn’t be able to fill a thimble, but I don’t have time for such comments (see what I did there?). This past weekend I heard about am album by Eric Church, so when I went to the bathroom during the wedding reception I was attending I started the download and it was done before the brand new couple jumped in the back of the limo. I like that if I have questions I can look them up on my iPhone or someone else’s iPad or in general a computer if you’re not trendy enough. I need groceries? I’ll either steal my roommates or go immediately in my car and get them, no problem.

But I have this little problem. It is between me and God. And I may not be the only one. You see he doesn’t run off my time. Actually, according to me, he’s always late and has changed the plans. (If I was more emotional I’d rip my hair out.) But, like I said, I am not the only one who had to wait on God.


Lets look at some folks in the Bible:

We shall first look at Abram.

God: Leave your country.
Abram: Where are we going?
God: I’ll let you know when we are there.

And God was silent for a few years.... nothing....no words...no further confirmation to Abram that he STILL was doing the right thing.


Second we have Joseph.

Joseph spent his teens and early adult life pretty much a slave who’d continually get screwed over by people. He spent considerable time in prison looking as if his God couldn’t give a rats about him. When things looked promising his dreamed were crushed.


Third we have Moses.

Moses was a rich kid who killed someone and then ran away from it all. For something like 40 YEARS he did not hear from God once but lived a normal Middle Eastern life walking sheep around all day... kinda like he’d do later I guess.


Finally we have Naomi.

God strangely showed Naomi how much he loved her by causing a famine and killing her husband and two sons. For YEARS she remained bitter at God–she asked her friends to call her Bitter because she felt God demolished her. Years!! Years, people!! That is everyday I wake up and it is the first thing I think about: ‘God, what are you doing?!’ Or just coming to ignore God.


With all of these examples, though, God showed up. Where he promised he made good on the promises. Where he seemed to be unkind he unfolded time to reveal how he had been affectionately loving the whole way through.


Often we get the wrong idea of examples like these four. We look at them and wrongly conclude, ‘Well, dang it, if they can do it so can I!’ I hope your bootstraps break today. Seriously. We need to look at examples of people like this and be blown away at God. How he remains true to his word. He doesn’t need to constantly remind: he speaks and it is forever true. But he DOES constantly remind us that he is there, if we will see with faith and not feelings or visible manifestations.

Are you abandoned, confused, hurt, in the dark, feeling alone, feel like you just aren’t gonna make it another day, sensing that you can’t add up?

Cheer up, you’re worse than you figured.
But cheer up, God is greater and more good than you can imagine.

He is still with us.

Jesus went through the annuls of eternity and ate up all the records for those who would believe in him. But while he was doing that he was under God’s real silence and real abandonment. On our behalf Jesus willingly went through the worst absence of God’s goodness we could ever imagine. Now we get all the benefits of being God’s child. Jesus was struck brutally like a pinata in every way–spiritually physically, mentally, emotionally and psychologically–and what came bursting out of him was eternal life and present joy for all who’d fall on his grace in need.