Is God Really Silent?
But you have said in my hearing -- I heard the very words --
'I am pure, I have done no wrong.
I am clean and free from sin.
Yet God has found fault with me;
He considers me his enemy…'
But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than any mortal.
Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one's words?
For God does speak -- now one way, now another -- though no one perceives it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds;
He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride,
To preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword. Job 33:8-18
'I am pure, I have done no wrong.
I am clean and free from sin.
Yet God has found fault with me;
He considers me his enemy…'
But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than any mortal.
Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one's words?
For God does speak -- now one way, now another -- though no one perceives it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds;
He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn them from wrongdoing and keep them from pride,
To preserve them from the pit, their lives from perishing by the sword. Job 33:8-18
One of the men listening to Job, Elihu, was compelled to respond to Job's claim that God was silent and unresponsive to his words.
He reminded Job that God is speaking all the time in diverse ways but people don't seem to listen or pay attention. He points out that God sometimes speaks to us in dreams when we are asleep or even in visions. There are even times when God will whisper things into our ears to warn us to desist from doing wrong. He does this to preserve our lives from perishing.
The truth is: God is never silent. God is constantly speaking to us in various ways. The question is: Are we really listening out for God? Are we listening to the still small voice in which He sometimes speaks? Are we attentive to the circumstances and situations that God allows us to experience to get our attention? Is God really silent at any point in time? Probably not.
It is up to us to listen and recognize the voice of God at all times. Even when it looks as if He is silent, God might still be communicating with us in diverse and unusual ways!
May God help us to discern His voice in all situations and at all times.
He reminded Job that God is speaking all the time in diverse ways but people don't seem to listen or pay attention. He points out that God sometimes speaks to us in dreams when we are asleep or even in visions. There are even times when God will whisper things into our ears to warn us to desist from doing wrong. He does this to preserve our lives from perishing.
The truth is: God is never silent. God is constantly speaking to us in various ways. The question is: Are we really listening out for God? Are we listening to the still small voice in which He sometimes speaks? Are we attentive to the circumstances and situations that God allows us to experience to get our attention? Is God really silent at any point in time? Probably not.
It is up to us to listen and recognize the voice of God at all times. Even when it looks as if He is silent, God might still be communicating with us in diverse and unusual ways!
May God help us to discern His voice in all situations and at all times.
Prayer: Father, please help me to recognize your voice at all times. Help me to draw so close to you that I can perceive your voice even in the most deafening silence. Amen