Hey there folks, we're back in the vestry. Welcome
back to the Semi -Seminary and the only podcast
that combines theological depth, spiritual honesty,
and well, occasionally, the dad joke about camels
fitting through the eye of needles. I'm your
host, Pastor Jim. I'm not quite a seminary professor,
not quite a monk, but fully committed to figuring
out this faith thing in real time right alongside
you. Today's episode, when God ghosts you, the
silence of God, and what to do about it. Yes,
friends, we're diving into those moments when
heaven feels like it's turned on, do not disturb.
You're praying, journaling, throwing worship
playlists at the wall, and still, nada. I'll
see you on the other side. So we had a resource
fair at the Fishing Marketplace on Friday, and
one of the vendors or the participants that was
going to table there at the event, they no -showed,
and I did have two others decline. They weren't
going to be able to make it, but at least they
contacted me and let me know. This particular
organization, I won't mention who they are, ghosted
me full -on. I confirmed face -to -face that
they were going to be there, handed them the
information sheet, sent out the day before email
to remind them. Day of, nothing. Their table
just sat there empty. And I was telling this
to some of the volunteers. And one of them, older
than I was, goes, what's ghosting? And I'm like,
well, I'm now old enough that it would be hard
for me to explain it. But, like, just in, like,
usually in a digital way, just ignore you exist.
Just, yeah, just you don't ever respond to them.
And that got me to thinking about, and then I
got to thinking about another thing about phones
and stuff like. I call it the blue bubble anxiety.
I don't know. Maybe I've got an iPhone. Maybe
if you have an Android or text screen, are they
blue as well? I don't know. Anyone have an Android
phone? When you text to each, you could change
the colors. Okay. So for iPhone. Okay. Well,
I'm going to go with blue, blue, almost said
blue bubble anxiety, blue bubble anxiety. And
there's actually kind of two parts to blue bubble
anxiety and you've all experienced, okay? The
one is you've texted somebody and you are waiting
for their response and then you don't get it.
Now, some people have the read receipt on and
some people don't. So sometimes you can tell,
I know you've read the message. Just read the
message. No bubbles, right? You know what I'm
talking about? Like, yeah, none. So it's kind
of like ghosting, right? Like, what is up? Then
here's one. Carrie had this one the other day
that I thought was great because she had texted
somebody a question, a request of some point,
right? Her anticipated response was going to
be what she thought the response would be just
either a yes or a no. But then the bubbles came
on and they stayed on. And they stayed on. And
you're like, it doesn't take that many bubbles
to type. Sure. It doesn't take that many bubbles
to type. Nope. So she was like, oh, no, this
is a long message. This is not what I expected
in return. Blue bubble anxiety. Ghosting. Right?
Now I want to take that and I want to talk about
tonight. That's right. We're in church. What
happens when God ghosts us? Tonight's discussion
is the silence of God and what to do about it.
Now, we've definitely all been there with our
phones. But let's also be honest about this.
We've all been there when we've had spiritual
blue bubble anxiety. You texted God. You're waiting.
No read receipt. No bubbles. And then all of
a sudden the devil starts whispering quietly
in your ear. Maybe he's mad at you. Maybe you
didn't fast long ago. Maybe that one time you
skip Leviticus, it's finally catching up with
you. And you feel ghosted by the divine. And
here's what makes it even worse when we talk
about spiritual ghosting. God, I didn't use the
Holy Ghost. That wouldn't work. But in church
culture, in the church world, so often we equate
silence. was spiritual failure. Because so often
we've been brought up to believe in the faith
that if God isn't just busting down doors for
you left and right and speaking audibly to you
every morning in the shower, that somehow, somehow,
we're doing something wrong. And we feel ghosted
by God. But let's look at the Bible as we want
to do. And one of the things I think is super
cool is the Bible is full of people yelling,
God, where are you? And what's funny about it
is those people aren't often minor characters
in the Bible that you don't really know about.
They're heavy hitters. Let me just throw out
three real quick. We have David, right? Let's
talk about David. David is the original emo psalmist,
right? Very moody, very emotional, you know,
a little bit, a lot of bit, right? Very melodramatic,
right? There's no doubt about it. And when we
look at very briefly the story of David's life.
We have kind of an understanding saying maybe
where that melodrama came from, right? Because
most of us that have grown up around the Bible
probably know that David had periods of his time
where he clearly walked in the favor of God.
And there were times where he deliberately went
off road, right? And completely bailed on his
responsibilities to God as a man and as a king
of the people of God. And a lot of those Psalms
are actually written in his lament for those
shortcomings, right? So David has a bit of a
pass when it comes to his melodrama in the Psalms
because David lived very much on the edge between
God's overflowing power and absolutely... breaking
the heart of God. And in Psalm 13, verse 1, an
example of this emotion, David says, how long,
Lord? How long? Will you forget me forever? And
David is out here turning his quiet time, right,
into like a Coldplay album. But he's raw and
he's honest. And he's not afraid to offend God
with his honesty. Let's look at another one.
Job, right? Most of us know the story of Job.
Job was the patron saint of pain. And if you
know the story, you might recall Job didn't do
anything to ask for the things that happened
to him. Including the death of his children.
And Job was just out here trying to be a devout
man of God. And his entire life and everything
he valued was stripped away. And yet at Job 30
and 20, even though he's hurt, he's still praying.
I cry to you, God. Cry to you. But you do not
answer me. Job is the gold medalist of the Suffering
Olympics. What's wild about Job is it should
be an encouraging lesson to each one of us. Job
never stops talking to God, even when he's mad.
One more. Another cat you guys might have heard
of. A guy named Jesus in Nazareth. Yeah, that
Jesus. Mark 15 and 34 records these words of
Jesus. My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? Even Jesus had a moment where he felt like
he had been ghosted by God. And that happened
on the cross. Now, why does God go silent? We
definitely see it happens and all acknowledge
that we have felt it in our own lives and our
spiritual journeys before. Why? Why does it feel
this way sometimes? Well, let me give a couple
of reasons that I think are good reasons to consider.
The first one is this. Silence is a test, not
a punishment. Silence from God. Almost all the
time is a test of something inside of you. Not
because God has decided all of a sudden you're
bad and he doesn't want to talk to you anymore.
God has not blocked you on his phone. Deuteronomy
8 and 2 says this. Remember how the Lord your
God led you all the way in the wilderness these
40 years? And then it explains why. to humble
and to test you in order to know what was in
your heart. In the New Testament, we find another
lesson about why does God go quiet. Silence often
will invite spiritual maturity in us. The writer
of Hebrews is comparing the word of God as food.
to actual food, right? And we give age -appropriate
food to our infants, to our toddlers, and to
our adults. And he talks about solid food in
5 and 14. He says, solid food is for the mature
whom, by constant use, have trained themselves
to distinguish the difference between good and
evil. And the third thing, silence. causes us,
slows us down to reflect. David, writing again,
139th Psalm, very famous verses, 23 and 24, Search
me, O God, and know my heart. Test me, and know
my anxious thoughts. God's silence can often
cause us to dig deeper in ourselves about what's
ultimately required of us in this relationship
between God and ourselves. I also want to mention
this as well, and I think this is super important.
Please, friends, remember that God's silence
does not underscore, does not equal God's absence.
Silence does not mean that you have been abandoned.
Remember, Jesus felt it too. David lived agonizingly
through it. And Job, Job flat out endured it.
Psalm 13 ends with this, but. In other words,
no matter what my present circumstance, no matter
where we are in our relationship, God, no matter
what sins I am confessing and atoning for, I
will trust in your unfailing love. Faith continues
to knock even when the door seems bolted shut.
So. You're not broken. You're not abandoned.
And you're not a bad Christian. You're in the
middle of a very biblical, very human experience.
Remember that silence is a season, not a sentence.
So keep praying, keep trusting, keep leaning
in. And maybe, like I mentioned, silence, the
ghosting of God, isn't a punishment. Maybe it's
the hush right before your breakthrough. Amen?
Amen. It was short tonight. Sorry about that.
Well, that's all for today here on the Seminary
Seminarian. Until next time, keep asking questions.
Keep showing up. Stay semi -sanctified and fully
caffeinated. Peace.