Sunday 2 September 2012

WHY IS GOD SILENT?

READ: 1 KINGS 19:11-12
It is good to hear God’s voice. Nothing compares to hearing directly from him. God’s voice can give you direction in different areas of your life. If you are at a crossroad, that is when you need to hear from God. “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk you in it, when you turn to the right hand, and you turn to the left.” (Isaiah 30:21).
Sometimes you do not hear God’s voice. God is simply silent. After his sin with Bathsheba, David stopped hearing God’s voice which he so cherished. So in Psalm 51:8, he asked to hear it again. David had a gift of prophecy. He received amazing revelations about Jesus Christ and wrote about him in Psalms 22, 23 and 24. But after committing adultery, which is one the gravest sins in a man can commit, he could not hear God’s voice.
Why is God silent? Why does he not speak at times when you want him to? Firstly, he may be quiet because there is nothing to say. God doesn’t waste his breath. Psalm 62:11 says, “God has spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belong to God.” If you are a child of God, your words should also be few. Isaiah 30:15 says there is strength in quietness. Controlling your tongue is one of the most important tests for your relationship with God. If you can avoid offending with your mouth, then you are perfect (James 3:2).
Secondly, God could have spoken, but you could have mistaken it for something else. In Matthew 3:17, some people mistakenly thought God’s voice was thunder. Sometimes we do not hear when God speaks, because we expect it to be in a dramatic way. In 1 Kings 19:11-12 Elijah expected to hear God in the mighty wind or in the earthquake, but in the end God spoke in a still, small voice. You may be too busy to hear him or just not listening. Sometimes he is not speaking, because he is preparing to laugh (Psalm 2:1-5). But God could also be silent because your obedience is incomplete. Sin alienates you from God and prevents you from hearing his voice.
Have you been missing God’s voice in your life? Ask to hear him clearly today, so that he does not reject you. Check your life right away and make amends. 
MEMORIZE: ISAIAH 30:21 –And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk you in it, when you turn to the right hand, and you turn to the left.