Silence here means keeping silent in the face of high expectations and the urge to speak or act. It’s saying nothing or doing nothing when your response is needed. One of the most distressing moments in life and in faith is not listening to God when you need him the most or when you feel that he must act or react to an issue. More often than not, it makes you feel disappointed, betrayed, confused, and can even lead to depression and relapse if the feeling and situation are not handled quickly and properly. But in reality, God’s silence does not always mean that he has abandoned an issue. It does not mean that you are confused or indecisive. And neither is it a sign of weakness or lack of will to manage and direct effectively, totally, all the affairs of men. He is always sovereign. But he chooses his own moment and method of action and intervention. He knows every issue, all before he begins. He controls it as it exists and knows how it will ultimately end. Nothing catches him off guard. Nothing scares him. So he doesn’t need our time, emotions or opinions to make decisions. Yes, we want to talk about those moments when you do not receive immediate answers, direction, opinions or responses from God to your prayers and expectations of him. When you have done everything you should and it is as if he did not answer you, the situation persists and you do not know the next step to take. I mean when God is silent and heaven is silent.
You will agree with me that we cannot talk about this subject without first taking into account the indelible and eternal words of that brave, brilliant, spiritual, poetic, indefatigable and humble but powerful great King David: “I beg you, O LORD, my rock “Don’t turn a deaf ear to me. Because if you’re silent, I might as well give up and die. Hear my prayer for mercy as I cry out to you for help, as I raise my hands to your holy sanctuary.” Psalm 28:1-2. Wow! Did you find out what? This guy knows how to put God in very difficult conditions with his choice of words. No wonder his prayers are always effective. You love the results. Whether on the battlefield or on his knees, he plans and executes his actions and words carefully. Yeah, it’s nice to hear from a man who’s seen it all. He had seen the miraculous, the extraordinary, the spectacular, the quick responses and deliverances of God. And he also experienced delays, reproaches, almost fatal, dangerous reprimands and silence from him. And he knew the differences. Here, it was as if he desperately needed divine intervention to survive, but it seemed like the sky was totally silent. But first let’s look briefly at times when he enjoyed quick responses before reverting to quiet periods. It’s OK for you?
When the Philistines heard that David had been crowned king of Israel, they came with their entire army to capture him, but David ran to his stronghold and called on the Lord from there. God responded and gave him victory over the Philistines. After a while, they returned and again God gave victory to Israel. The enemy will always try to come back, so always be prepared. Then, after the death of Saul and Jonathan, David inquired of the Lord, and the Lord told him to return to Judah. But he didn’t stop there. He went further by asking the particular city to settle and the LORD said to him, “Hebron!” Wow! He always wants to know the ultimate mind of God, even in the smallest matters. And it was there that the men of Judah came to crown him their king. When you move with the direction of God you will be crowned. TRUE. When the Amalekites raided, burned Ziklag and took David’s sons and wives and his men, he cried out to God and the LORD told him to go after the raiders that he will surely get back all that was taken from him. And he did. He also cried desperately many times for God to protect him from the deranged King Saul. David always got a quick answer from heaven.
But at one point this fantastic relationship soured. And I think that’s when the king wrote some of those soulful Psalms that will clearly show the state of a man who was disconnected and desperately needed a touch of that original sweet relationship with his maker. God watched in silence; Heaven seemed sealed when our beloved David was going through the most difficult periods of his life. He prayed, he cried, he repented, but the chains of setbacks simply refused to break. One of his beloved sons, Amnon, raped his half-sister. Another preferred ‘beautiful’ son, Absalom, murdered the rapist and went into exile. From there he began to plan how to overthrow his father. He later succeeded, driving David away from the throne and from Jerusalem, carrying off his closest advisers and associates, and even raping his father’s wives in public. The prodigal Absalom was willing to end the life and legacy of his father. At one point, the once great, anointed and majestic David dressed in sackcloth and weeping said that he was disappearing into the desert. My God! Tears. All this happened to man according to God’s own heart because heaven has decided to keep silent about his affairs. Now you still wonder why he cried, “Oh LORD, save me. Please don’t be silent lest I give up and die.” And he was right. Yes, if God does not come to help us in time, there will be serious problems. We may be tempted to give up or even perish in the process. Does God seem to be silent about you and your situation now? It may not even be due to your mistake, but suddenly you find that nothing is moving forward in your life again. We will continue.
Gabriel is the author of the books/audiobooks: The Power of the Midnight Prayer, Receive Your Healing, Breaking Generational Curses: Reclaiming Your Freedom, Never Again!, I Will Not Die, Move On, The Power of Sacrifice and many others https ://www .amazon.com/Power-Midnight-Prayer-Gabriel-Agbo/dp/1475273738/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
