Sermon Central
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When Heaven Seems Silent!
Contributed by Shine Thomas on Nov 11, 2013 (message contributor)
Summary: How should you respond when God seems distant?
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When Heaven Seems Silent!
Introduction: Have you ever felt that God was giving you the “silent treatment”? How should you respond when God seems distant?
Every one of us has dreams and goals in our heart. There are promises that we are standing on. May be you are believing for a breakthrough in your job, your career, your ministry, your child, breakthrough in your family etc. Deep down you know God has spoken that to you. But so often because it is taking a long time and you are not seeing any signs from God, you are getting discouraged. You ask, seek, and knock but God is quiet. On the other side, the devil is telling you that you are going to lose and you are trying your level best to hold on.
The reason many people do not see God’s promises come to pass is because they get discouraged and give up too soon. Just because you do not see anything does not mean that God is not working for you. Just because you cannot see what God is doing, that does not mean that God will not fulfil your promises. God is faithful to his word. All of his promises are yes and amen.
1. Human response to God’s silence.
Many times when we do not see anything in the natural we cry out in despair. We get disappointed and discouraged. People get confused which will eventually lead to doubt, guilt (Some people feel they have sinned), anger and fear. These are all signs of giving up in life.
Psalm 28:1-2 1To you, LORD, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit. 2Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help, as I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.
Habakkuk 1:2 How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!”but you do not save?
Men and women throughout the Bible voiced their disappointment when they felt heaven was silent. Here they are crying out to God because God is silent towards them. They could not see anything happening in their lives, they were getting fearful and losing hope.
I understand some of you are in your silent years in certain areas of your life. You are telling, “Lord I do not understand why I am going through this trouble. I do not know why my life has become like this. Lord, I cannot take this any longer.” You feel God is far away and are ready to give up your faith. In the natural David and Habakkuk were losing faith but if you really read their books further, they waited by faith and God lifted them.
When you come to the end of Psalm 28 David said:
Psalm 28:6-7 6Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy. 7The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 17Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.
When your promises are taking long, don’t give up, never lose your faith. God is right with you. God smiles at you seeing your faith, but devil smiles at you seeing your fear.
Do you know that God created you in your mother’s womb with his very own hands? There is nothing about you that is an accident. There is nothing about you that God is not proud of. There is nothing about you that God does not think is misplaced in life. Just because you are going through a trouble, just because you are not hearing from God, just because things are not working out does not mean that there is something wrong with you. God is at work in your life. He loves you. You are precious to him.
In the Bible we find many examples of God’s silence and whenever man felt God was quiet there were lessons to be learnt.
Lessons from God’s silence.
a. God is always at work. God always works in the background. The Israelites were in bondage in Egypt. They cried, they prayed to God but God was silent for a long time. They lived in Egypt for 430 years but the time between Joseph’s death and Exodus out of Egypt was the darkest period, almost 150 years. God was silent, they could not see God doing anything but in the background God was actually preparing a deliverer for them in Moses. God was always working in the background.
