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          Lord…….Hello?!!! Are You there?!!!!!

 

Regarding the above question, have you ever had these thoughts? I have! Again, how about you? Listen, if we’ll all be honest, I believe we’ve all been there at one time or another. Recently, I was asked by my close friend Reverend Ron Bynum to sing/speak at the Cornerstone Community Church of the Nazarene in Falcon, Colorado. Marti and I really enjoyed being with Pastor Ron and his precious wife Bev, and their wonderful church family. And I think all who were there that morning will tell you that the Lord truly met with us and His Presence was so real! PTL! So, for this Story-Line I feel that the Holy Spirit wanted me to share with you what I shared with them about the times in our lives when God seems silent. God’s Word tells us that He is Omnipotent- (All Powerful); He is Omnipresent- (He is everywhere in the world/universe); and He is Omniscient – (All knowing. He knows everything about everybody, and everything!). So, with this in mind, why does God at times seem to choose not to answer prayer? Recently, I read some comments from Reverend David Fox about this. Listen, we all go through times in our life when God seems to be silent. We try to pray, but our prayers seem only to rise to the ceiling and then back down to the floor again. And during these times in our life when it seems as if God does not speak to us it’s hard to pray; hard to give counsel and advice to others; hard to persevere in the right things; and sometimes it’s even hard to live. John Wesley offered 3 good insights about the times in our lives when God seems silent.

 

            1. God may seem silent during times of unseen spiritual warfare. Wesley used the example of the Prophet Daniel in Dan.9; 3, 20-23.  Because of limited space here, it’s not possible to note his prayer here, but I hope you take a moment to look it up in your Bible because it’s powerful. Bottom line, Israel had been in captivity for nearly 70 years, and Daniel knew it was time for their release. He began to seek God in fasting & prayer. He was right with God; praying for the right things in the right way for the right reasons. But, God remained silent for many days. Then, the answer came! Lesson here? Daniel did not give up when he didn’t get his answer at first, and he kept trusting in God. And we need to remember this and do the same and embrace Ephesians 6: 10-18 that reminds us to put on the whole armor of God when we are engaged in spiritual warfare.

 

             2. Secondly, God may be forcing us to grow spiritually when He seems silent. Luke 8:22-25 – (again, please read). Jesus and His disciples were on a boat and a vicious storm came up. They were in a sense of panic, and He was asleep! The disciples woke Him up (V.24) and said, “Master, Master, wake up, we’re going to drown!” So, Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and raging waters, the storm subsided, and all was calm. And then He asked them (V.25) saying, “Where is your faith? In fear and amazement they asked one another, Who is this? He commands even the winds and the waves and they obey Him.” Listen, if Jesus would have calmed the storm before it started, they would have never have had this great  opportunity to see this display of His mighty power! Lesson here? Jesus had everything under control and He wasn’t panicked over their storm. Good news friend, He’s not panicked over our problems either! And sometimes His silence in our life will force us to grow and discover Him to be greater than we thought He is!

 

            3. Thirdly, God may seem silent when there is unconfessed sin in our lives. Folks, make no mistake about it unconfessed sin will, not maybe, distance us from the Lord and cause him to be silent. Please note that in Dan. 9:20 that we see Daniel confessing his personal sin, and the sin of his people. The Israelites were originally carried into captivity because of their sin and rebellion against God, and their unwillingness to repent (to change, to turn back to Him) before the Lord. Their sins caused God to turn away from them, and caused Him to be silent. Likewise for us, unconfessed sin will separate us from God, make us unable to hear from God and lead us into a life of spiritual bondage. But the good news is, if we have sin in our lives, and confess

it to the Lord, and repent (turn from it), then God will begin to speak to us once again and we will be able to hear his Voice in spite of what Ms. Joy Behar of the TV show the View said recently about our Vice President Mike Pence and his personal relationship with Christ! It’s interesting to me that when Oprah Winfrey was asked about the about the possibility of her running for President in the future and her answer was that she’s “praying about it and God hasn’t spoken to her about what she should do yet” but Ms. Bahar has not denigrated Oprah! Just saying! Truth is, Ms. Behar is not a follower of Christ and this is why she can’t understand, and never will. The Bible tells us in I Cor. 2:14 – “The natural man (one who has never been born again) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”.  However, John 10:27 Jesus tells us that, “My sheep hear My Voice, and I know them, and they follow

me.” PTL!  

 

In closing, if you’re in a place in your life where you feel like, “Lord, Hello? Are you there? Don’t you know what I’m going through?” I hope one of the insights from John Wesley mentioned above helps you today. Also, I came across these words from author Bill Crowder offered in a devotional recently that was an encouragement to me and I hope will be the same to you which says, “The death of Jesus Christ on the Cross gives us a hope that helps us endure, by grace, when the long shadow of suffering passes over us. It is the cross that promises a time when wrongs are made right and suffering is brought to an end. Where is God when we suffer? Right beside us! He allowed His Son to experience the same things that we experience. He provided the Cross, which pays for our suffering and offers restored relationship with Him. And He is the God who promises that, in the life to come, all things will be no more!” Amen? Amen!

 

I love you all very, very much!

 

Gary

Matt.6:33