Well, good morning. It is always a pleasure to be in the house of God, to speak with you,
to learn with you, to go through God's Word with you. And I'm excited to see what the
Lord says. And I find that those expressions of wanting God to speak to us, how often we
actually say that. There are no less than five times during the worship set and prayer
where I kept either wanting to say or actually did say, God speak to us, which is funny because
my study this morning, a message to you, has to do with when God doesn't speak, right?
But that's within us, the desire to hear His voice, the desire to receive instruction directly
from Him, guidance, interpretation, you know, an explanation of what's going on and why.
That's something that we want. To hear His voice is something that we crave, and that's
a beautiful thing. But it's not what happens all the time. And we're going to be going
through that today. As Pastor Nathan alluded to and as I've kind of led up to, the title
of our study this morning is The Sound of Silence. And no, I am not going to sing that
song. And no, I did not do a rewrite of that song. Probably should have, but I didn't.
But didn't want to get distracted by that either. But what we're talking about is the
sound of God being silent. We're not going to park at any one passage of Scripture this
morning, but while I'm kind of letting you know where we're going to be going, you can
turn in your Bibles to Psalm 28, because we'll be kicking off from Psalm 28.
One of the other things I just want to go ahead and let you know is that, you know,
when I'm studying and I'm preparing for something like this, it's just my habit to have different
Bible versions kind of in front of me in parallel so that I can see what it says maybe in the
CSB, which is what we use here in the sanctuary, or the NASB as well, or my current like is
maybe the Amplified Bible, just because each one of those, you know, while they say the
same thing, they do have a different take sometimes on certain passages and certain
turns of words or definitions of words. Sometimes you'll read one version and then in the footnotes
it'll say a different word, a very similar word, but a different word, but then you go
to another version like say the NASB, and that will actually use that word. So, you
know, it just has to do with when they're pulling together the interpretation of the
original language and they want to give you all the tools possible, but sometimes I just
like it to be easier and better for my brain if I can see it kind of laid out in a certain
way. And then depending on what specific thing that the Lord may be trying to tell me to
tell you, I may see a version that says something in a very specific way that maybe another
version doesn't. And so I'll choose that version. So this morning when you're looking in your
Bible what is going to be on the screen may be different, but it'll be noted. You'll see
a little note. I think they're only pulling from two versions this morning, and that'll
be either the CSB or the Amplified Bible. So if you're reading along with me and you
go, oh, wait, that's not what's in my Bible. Don't worry about it. Roll with it. You know,
it'll be fine. The difference in language will give you food for thought. This is all
about studying God's Word. That's part of studying God's Word. Don't let it throw you.
There's no hidden meaning behind it. It's just that we want to give you all the tools
necessary for your study of God's Word as you get to know Him better. So there you go.
Explain that. So now you're all in Psalm 28, correct? All right. So I want to read this
to you because it kind of underscores a lot of where we're going to jump off from when
we talk about the sound of silence. So in Psalm 28, David says, Lord, I called to you,
my rock, do not be deaf to me. If you remain silent to me, I will be like those going down
to the pit. Listen to the sound of my pleading when I cry to you for help, when I lift up
my hands towards your holy sanctuary. You know, the desired paradigm, I know this is
true for me and I suspect that it's true for many, if not really all of you, is this. And
I'm going to start off by posing a question for you to kind of put in the background of
everything that's said today. And that question is this, would you rather that your journey
and walk with God be one in which He speaks to you or one in which He is silent? Would
you rather that He speaks to you day in, day out, or would you rather that He be silent?
And I don't know about you, but I know about me. And more often than not, I want the first
one, right? I would say my journey and walk with God is best when He is speaking to me.
Now, let me define speaking to me because that's important. Speaking to me in the way
of, God, I want you to speak revelation to me. I want you to give me guidance. I want
you to speak into my life in such a way that I know the direction that I'm going, right?
So it's a very, very specific action that I'm talking about when I say speak to me,
right? Different than say maybe the word, God, show me, right? Speaking and show are
slightly different. We are specifically talking about speaking this morning. So, but from
my perspective, I feel like I'm more confident, more effective, and more in tune, and definitely
more enabled to accomplish God's work when He is speaking to me. There's like a holy
synergy that I feel, and I desire, and I want, right? It's me and God tackling the world,
right? I feel unstoppable at that point. And I feel like in those moments, I thrive. When
I don't feel like God is speaking, I feel like King David as he expressed in Psalm 22.
In Psalm 22, he says in verse 1, my God, my God, why have you abandoned me? In the Amplified
Bible, it's phrased, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from my deliverance?
Or why are you so far from helping me? And from my words of groaning, you seem so far.
My God, I cry by day, but you do not answer by night, yet I have no rest. And it's Psalm
22. It's in moments like that where I feel like something is wrong with me, when I'm
not hearing God directly. There's something wrong. Something's off. And I start asking
myself, where have I messed up? Because obviously, that's the problem. Somewhere along the line,
I have failed God. If he's not speaking to me, I start asking, am I being punished or
am I being corrected for something? Is he withholding his voice from me because of me,
something that I have done? And you know, in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament,
but also in the New, I find that I'm not alone in that feeling. We can see many examples.
We're going to go over a few of them right now. The first example in the Old Testament
that I would point out would be Job. Now, for those of you who may not remember or know
who Job was in the Old Testament, Job was a righteous man. Job was a man who God had
blessed in all areas of his life, whether it be his family life, his financial life,
his property, all of it. God had given him great blessing. And he had done that because
Job was a righteous man. He loved God. He exhibited that in his life. And what happens
in the book of Job is that Satan comes before the Lord and says, he only loves you because
you gave him all this stuff. Let me start taking these things away and you'll see who
he really is. And so God allows Satan to do those things. He starts taking away his cattle.
He starts taking away his financial security. He starts taking away his family, his servants,
all of it. He takes away his health. He takes everything away from Job. But Job bears most
of his trials and afflictions without hearing directly from God as you move through that
story. God does not offer him any explanation saying, well, I'm doing this because, you
know, yes, it's a test, but I know you're going to pass the test. How comforting that
would have been to Job, right? This is a temporary thing, Job. Don't worry about it. It'll pass.
But is that what God did? No. He didn't say anything to Job. In Job chapter 23, Job says
the following. In verse 1, it says, then Job answered and said, even today my complaint
is contentious. His hand is heavy despite my groaning. Oh, that I knew where I might
find him, that I might even come to his seat. I would present my cause before him and fill
my mouth with arguments. I would lean, I would learn the words which he would answer and
understand what he would say to me. Would he contend against me with his great power?
No. Surely he would give attention to me. There the righteous and upright could reason
with him, so I would be acquitted forever by my judge. Behold, I go forward to the east,
but he is not there. I go backwards to the west, but I cannot perceive him. To the left,
to the north, he turns, but I cannot behold him. He turns to the right hand, the south,
but I cannot see him. Our next example in the book of Genesis would be Abraham, the
father of the Jewish nation. Abraham received the promise of God that through Abraham, a
mighty people, a nation would be established, God's people, and that they would number greater
than the stars in the sky or the sands on the shore. So God gives this promise to him,
but then the rest of his life takes over, right? Life happens, and he and his wife remain
childless for many years. God does not say anything to him in that time. Oh, he fulfills
the promise, but not in the way Abraham would have dreamed or possibly even thought would
be the path forward to create a great nation, right? But up until that point, that answer,
God doesn't address it again. Silence. The next person is also in the book, in the Old
Testament, and it's somebody that we've talked about. We talked about this person on Mother's
Day, and that's Samuel's mother, Hannah, in the book of Samuel. You remember Hannah? In
Samuel chapter 1, what is Hannah doing? She is coming before the Lord, and she's asking
God to intervene in her life because she was barren and give her a son, give her a child.
And this was not one time that she asked for this. This was year after year after year
after year. And what happens to Hannah before God answers? That's many, many, many years
of silence. She doesn't even get a promise from God like Abraham, right? She just has
silence. There is no answer to Hannah until God speaks.
Next example, again in the Old Testament, again in the book of Genesis, is Joseph. Joseph,
as you recall, had many dreams that God had given him, many visions about the outcome
of his life. You know, he had those dreams of the…what are they called? The bushels
of wheat, right? And how there were just many bushels of wheat and how they were bowing
down to Joseph, right? And how the moon and the stars were bowing down to Joseph. And
these visions that he was having were speaking of what was going to come about in Joseph's
life, how God was going to call him out, set him aside, and bless him. And those bowing
things were representative of his own family. They were going to bow to him. But that didn't
happen right away, right? He receives these visions. And then what happens to him? Well,
his brothers attempt to kill him. But instead, they sell him into slavery. And then he ends
up in Egypt, a slave. And then he ends up in prison, a slave in prison. And it's not
until 22 years later that God again speaks to him. And after that, he brings about the
answer to the prophecies that he had given about his life, and he becomes an overseer
in Egypt so that he can save his family from famine, which was really the whole point of
what he was going, what God was going to do. But can you imagine 22 years of having received
a word from the Lord and then nothing? No other voice, no reminder, nothing, just life.
And right after that, the same thing or similar thing happens to the Jews in general, the
very people that God saved through Joseph. What happens to them? They become slaves in
Egypt. You know, they were slaves in Egypt for over 200 years. 200 years of the people
of God crying out to God, save us, redeem us, deliver us. No answer. 200 years. How
many people lived out full lives? How many people died without hearing God's voice? It's
astounding when you think of it. 200 years of crying out to the Lord, but silence. And
then we again look at the nation of Israel. In Amos chapter 8, if you want to turn there,
you can. In Amos chapter 8, the prophet Amos delivers God's message to the nation of Israel
of a coming period of silence from God. Amos chapter 8 verse 11, it says, look, the days
are coming. This is the declaration of the Lord God. When I will send a famine through
the land, not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the
Lord. People will stagger from sea to sea and roam from north to east seeking the word
of the Lord, but they will not find it. This prophecy was fulfilled 349 years after it
was given. That's a pretty long period of time, but you know, God was still speaking
for those 349 years. So thank you, Lord. Right? But after 349 years, through the prophet of
Malachi and foretold by the prophet of Malachi, Malachi, if you recall, that is the last prophet
listed in the Old Testament, right? It is at the close of that period. And what Malachi
then is given a word of from the Lord is that Israel faces judgment once again. And this
is a very heavy judgment. And so that judgment takes place after Malachi. This judgment lasts
400 years. And since it's the fulfillment of the prophecy that Amos gave 350 years before
that, that is 400 years of God's silence. 400 years. And you know what happened during
that time. You know, the people were dispersed, the temple was destroyed. They had no home.
They were captive in other lands. No word from the Lord. No other prophet for 400 years.
At the end of 400 years, you had the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus, who is the
word of God. But 400 years of crying out to the Lord for a deliverer, for salvation, for
a word, nothing. Silence for 400 years. And really quickly in the New Testament, there
are two examples that I can think of very easily. I think we've spoken of them before.
And that is, the first one is the woman who had the issue of blood, whatever that might
have been, that Jesus healed, right? So you remember that story. It is this woman, she
had this health problem, this issue of blood. How many years did she have that for? 12.
12 years of asking of the Lord for something, a word, healing, whatever, and not receiving
a word. 12 years before the Lord healed her, she cried out to him. And then the second
person in the New Testament is the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda. How many years did
he have his problem? 38. 38 years of not hearing from the Lord. Certainly he's crying out,
and his parents crying out for a word from God, a healing, something, an explanation,
nothing, silence, until that moment when Jesus came. All this to say that if like me you
have ever felt that God is silent, you're definitely not alone. Look around you today.
I'm confident that if you were to speak to people in this room, most here could share
with you a story of when this has been the same case in their own life. Something has
happened. They take it before the Lord, and there's no answer. None. You know, I think
that there are different seasons of life where, that can give rise to times of silence from
the Lord. And none of this is perfect, but it just helps sometimes just to kind of categorize
and try to see, well, what does God do in X and what does God do in Y and what is he
doing in, you know, Z? And so we're going to look at four periods of life that I think
that this type of silence from God seems to come up in you guys' experience from time
to time. The first season, I'm going to say, is seasons of calamity and pain. These include,
you know, severe accidents, medical problems, the death of dear family members and friends,
or some other traumatic personal life event. These are the moments when we often cry out
to God, desperate for an answer, and usually that cry is, why? God, why? We cry out and
we question, but more often than not, there is no discernible answer from the Lord that
explains it all. And if there is an answer, it's sometimes not until much later, just
like we saw in the lives of other people in the Old and New Testament. I think Job is
our poster child for experiencing calamity without an explanation from God. But as you
study the life of Job and his response to these heavy trials and his losses, you find
that behind it all, Job is Job. He remains who he was before, in that Job recognizes
something very crucial, and that is God is God, and he, Job, is not.
In Job chapter 13, this is what Job declares in verse 15, Job 13-15, even though he kills
me, I will hope in him. Nevertheless, I will argue my ways to his face. I love that verse.
Job is very human, and yet, very much in the right place with God. God can even bring him
to death, and his hope is not moved. His hope is still in God. Nevertheless, I'm going to
tell him, and I'm going to speak with him, because these are the things that are on my
heart, and I'm his child. He says, though the worst things happen to me, I'll keep my
hope and trust in God, even while my hurt heart is before him, pleading for answers.
That's an acceptable place to be. In fact, it's the right place to be. This is a relationship
that you have with a holy and a righteous God, and yes, he owes us no explanation whatsoever.
Let me make that clear. God owes me no answer, and I, as his creation, my right position
is to say, amen. Holy is the Lord. Mighty is the Lord. Strength and power and majesty
be unto the Lord. But he has created a relationship, and so I can come to him, and he wants me
to come to him, and lay my heart before him. Silence in the seasons of pain and calamity
often bring us to a relationship of greater reverence, a greater reverence for God, and
a trust in who God is. He speaks, even though he's silent. He speaks by being who he is
and revealing that to you and having you move in that. The next season I would talk
about would be seasons of change. Now, I hate change. I really hate change. I mean, I'm
a person who likes setting up systems, getting the systems to work great, and then saying,
don't touch my system. Why would you touch my system? It runs great. It gets the job
done. It may be antiquated, but it gets the job done. Do not touch my system. Those who
know me, you know me well. But the types of changes that we're talking about, yes, we're
talking about whether it's a loss of a job or a new job opportunity, financial distress
or financial opportunities, home losses or moving opportunities or decisions that are
needed for child or parental care, which is a big one that we all face. Those of us who
are now adults and our parents are older or we have children who have issues and problems,
how do we deal with those? Decisions would be so much easier if God would answer my plea
for help and guidance, right? God, if you're going to change the nice working paradigm
that has been developed, could you please just tell me then how to negotiate this change
that I hate? This even extends to times of distress when our backs are up against the
wall and there is nothing that we can do to change anything. I really hate being in that
position. All the while we're waiting for God to speak as the vice tightens, but sometimes
he doesn't. So what do we do when he doesn't speak in these moments of change, these uncomfortable
moments? If you're like me, you have a propensity to get upset, to get frustrated and even angry
with God and angry with those around you. You often ask, like I do, and not so gently,
why are you doing this to me? God, I know you can fix this, but you don't. You know,
we can often read in the Psalms where King David expresses some of these same thoughts
himself. In Psalms 13, Psalms 13 verse 1, this is what King David writes, How long,
O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long
will I store up anxious concerns within me? Agony in my mind every day? How long will
my enemy dominate me? Now, let's be honest, there's a lot of attitude to unpack in those
verses, right? But for time's sake, let's just kind of skip over that because there
are things that need to be dealt with when I have that attitude towards the Lord, when
I'm using that accusatory type of language with him. And believe me, God does deal with
that, right? But for what we're talking about today, let's just point, let's skip to the
end of that. That is, there's only one way out of that swamp, right? And that swamp,
out of that swamp, is to again, to act like Job. Act like Job and see God as the Almighty
and place our hope and our trust fully in him. That may sound easy and maybe you're
sitting there going, come on, you're kind of glossing over a lot of real life there.
But I would contend that I'm not because at the end of the day, if your perspective is
in line with who God really is, that changes everything. Not just confessing it with my
mouth, but believing it with my heart. I've said this many times and it applies to many
things that if we truly believe that God is who God says he is, our lives would be radically
different. In this case, that applies as well. Despite me feeling like God has abandoned
me that he's causing these things or letting these things happen to me, these calamities,
whether it's enemies or problem people coming on me or I have real life problems that are
going on in my family or whatever it might be, if I stop and do the very real and necessary
thing of saying, enough, God is God. God is Almighty. You know what it does to all that
stuff and feelings that I'm having? It banishes it because it's now really irrelevant. My
hope and trust is in God. If he is allowing these things to happen, glory be to God. I
may never understand it. I don't have to because he is God and I hope and I trust him. So doing
that is key and it's paramount. And additionally, I would actually say it's necessary and advisable
to be like King David in another way. And that is who throughout the book of Psalms,
he repeats at least three phrases time and time again. Those phrases are, he is my fortress.
He is my unchanging rock and I will put my hope and trust in God. You can find them in
Psalms 18 and 91 if you want to look them up later. But it's throughout the book of
Psalms you find those three things. He is my fortress. He is my rock. I will put my
hope and trust in him. In fact, we can even go back to Psalm 13, which we just read where
he was kind of railing against the Lord saying, how long, how long, how long. And at the conclusion
of that same Psalm, Psalm 13, this is what David says in verse 5, 13 verse 5, but I have
trusted in your faithful love. My heart will rejoice in your deliverance. I will sing to
the Lord because he has treated me generously. Doesn't even sound like the same guy, does
it? No, because he has been transformed by the realization of who God is, a belief that
he is holding onto with everything that he's got, that God is almighty and that his hope
and trust is rightly placed in him. Silence and seasons of change often redirect us to
cling to God all the more. For he is Lord of all and our hope and trust is rightly placed
in him and he is worthy of songs of praise and remembrance. The next season is the season
of consequence. And there's no way around this one. Sometimes God is silent or doesn't
act in a way as to relieve us of the consequences of our poor judgment, our bad actions, or
our sin. Let me be clear, I am not talking about forgiveness of sin. That is not the
silence that I'm talking about. God hears every call out to him, call asking for forgiveness.
The repentance that is freely given. God is never withholding that ever. What I'm talking
about is when you are his son and daughter and you do things out of poor judgment, out
of poor actions, or you're in sin. What we're talking about is the natural fallout from
our actions. I mean, God surely is abundantly gracious and merciful and we've seen it and
experienced it more times than we're worthy of. But sometimes, and for only reasons that
he knows, he allows the chips to fall where they may. Again, our call is to believe that
he is who he says he is and to place our hope and trust in who he has demonstrated to us
that he is. This is why we spend so much time in our Christian study and our Christian walk
looking back to the people in the Old Testament. You know, if you ever wondered, why are we
studying people who were alive thousands of years ago? Why are we looking at their history?
What does that have to do with anything? Well, in the New Testament, Paul exhorts us to do
just that, to look back at what God has done. You know, I'm not looking necessarily to see
what they did. What I'm looking at is to see what God did in and through them, right? So
that's how we look and we see the goodness of God played out over centuries, right? I
can then recall them at moments like this when I am being called to put my hope and
trust in him. He's like a loving parent, right? He allows us to learn through the actions
of our sin and bad decisions, but also like a loving parent, we see throughout the Old
Testament that we can trust that God extends grace if we walk humbly and with thanksgiving.
He has adopted us into his family and now calls us his sons and daughters. He has demonstrated
his great and boundless love towards us time and time again. He may be silent as we work
through our sin, but he's never absent. Silence during times of consequence teach us to believe
in his authority as the Almighty and remember his justice, grace, and mercy as is shown
in his word and to put all of our hope and trust in him. Are you seeing a pattern? Hope
and trust in him always seen who he is always seen that he is Almighty God always believing
he is who he says he is. The last season that I want to talk about is what is often referred
to as a season of calling. And this one hits me particularly hard and it hits me directly
because it's the journey that I am currently on. So let me share with you just how we arrived
at today and actually how we're arriving at this very moment right here and now. So several
weeks ago, Pastor Nathan asked me if I would be willing to share while he was on vacation.
And I am thrilled and overjoyed at any opportunity to share with all of you from the word of
God. It is my joy and I love being used that way if the Lord sees fit. Right? So of course
my answer was yes. Of course. No problem. And there is a process that is developed over
time other times when whether it's been Pastor Nathan asking me to speak or whether it's
been speaking at a youth function which I've done in the past or whatever. There's a process
that God kind of has used. I've come to expect this process and like I said I like setting
up systems and then maintaining the system and when the system breaks I don't like it
at all. Right? So the system basically kind of goes like this. Unbeknownst to me Pastor
Nathan is going to ask me to speak. Well that works out great when he does because usually
God has already put something on my heart whether it's through my personal Bible study
that I'm doing something that's just kind of grabbed me and no at the time I don't I
don't know why that particular thing is hitting me in a certain way so I just kind of keep
it there and it just doesn't go away and then the opportunity comes up and it's like oh
God prepared that. How wonderful. You know? And then as I'm preparing it's like God says
yes and now X and now Y and now Z and this is how it all goes together and this is what
I want to say through you and it's a huge blessing. Right? It's not that it doesn't
work but it's a huge blessing. So the thing is with this particular request I'm expecting
the same thing. Right? So he asks I have plenty of time. God's got plenty of time. Right?
But zero. I got nothing. I got nothing in the back to pull. Right? I'm going through
all my Bible studies that I'm going through and there's just nothing that God has really
pulled out. They've been great, great studies that I'm going through but nothing's hitting
me and hasn't hit me that I would say great I'm going to put that aside and remember that.
Zero. I'm like okay. Well, God you got time. You know? Let's see what you do. A week goes
by, two weeks go by, three weeks go by. Nothing. Silence. You want to get my attention really
fast? Change something in the room. Right? That's just the way I'm built. If there's
a problem I'm always looking to see where the problem is before the problem happens.
Right? So I'm getting there. Right? I'm going I don't understand God. What is it? Okay.
Well, I'll keep praying and keep my eye out for whatever it is that you're going to reveal
to me like you had before. We get all the way to this week and it's a big fat zero.
And I'm freaking out. You can ask my assistant at work how much I'm freaking out. I'm like
we can't have this God. This ain't going to work. It's like why? Why are we doing that?
And so I start going through it. There's something what is it God? What is it in here that is
giving rise to your silence? Because let's fix it. I mean let's fix it now. And stuff.
And so you know I'm cataloging going through junk that I accumulate like everybody else
you know. It's like okay let's take this off. Let's take this off. Let's take this off.
That's great. And should do that all the time. Right? But yeah didn't affect anything. Silence.
Not a word. And now I'm just dying. Oh my God. I just I need something God. I need to
hear your voice. And so what happened was I didn't have any grand revelation. Not like
before. The only thing that I could say that happened was there was this slight nudge in
the background. And it was a nudge to kind of examine things that have gone on in my
life. You know whether it's a month ago, several months ago, a year ago, two years ago. And
the truth is is that there is there is something that has gone on, is going on, continues to
go on in the life of my family. It's nothing tragic but it affects our outside ministry.
Outside ministry work. And it affects it in a huge way. And I'm like okay well there is
that. There is that thing. Right? What do I do with that thing? I mean that's just a
big terrible thing. I don't really want to deal with that in a Bible study. Okay so you
don't want to deal with that in a Bible study but what is it about that? I'm like okay well
God certainly has done things with me over the course of those two years. And I'd love
to say that he's fixed me in how I react to things and how I react to people. But no I
don't have any big happy story about that. But God certainly has changed me. But it's
hard work change. I mean I have to be deliberate in how I think about things, how I talk about
things, how I pray for things. And so yeah okay God has done something like that but
God how is that encouraging? You know? Well what else is there? And then it was kind of
like aha. I know what it is. It's his silence. Because the thing that I rail about most to
God in that circumstance is Lord why are you not doing anything? Why are you not saying
anything? All you have to do is speak. This whole thing could be taken care of. All you
have to do is move. And at the very least God couldn't you just speak to me to let me
know that you hear me. And that it's going to be alright. And that you've got this. And
it's going to work out. Right? Those are the things that I'm actually contending with.
Is contending with the silence of God. It's funny. So I'm like okay. That's it. That's
what I'm going to talk about. And you would hope and you would think that once that was
settled what I was going to talk about that I would just begin to get grand revelation
and God once again he's right there with me going yeah yeah and I'll say this and say
this and say this. Nope. This has been one of the hardest studies that I have had to
dig for. I mean dig for. So that I can come before you and say this is what God is. He's
revealing to me and I know it's not perfect and it's probably like putting lipstick on
a pig but this is it. This is what he's working on in my own life. This is real life. Right?
And this is how he's moving me through it and no I'm not great at moving through it
at all. Wish I could tell you that I was. But no I'm right there with you. These are
hard things. Hard relationships. Hard obedience lessons. Hard changes. And I'm dealing with
it just like you. And if anything I hope that that's encouraging. Right? We're all right
there. We're all right in his hand. We're all working through it. But he's the same.
Right? The call is the same. No matter who we are. So. I think what it's done is it
kind of broadens my outlook on what God's silence is in our larger walk. And I hope
that it's applied to my preparation for today's Bible study. And I think that it hits both
a season of change for me and a season of calling. Because here's the thing. In the
season of calling and how this applies to that as well is God in being silent in preparation
for this Bible study wanted to teach me something else. And that is He shouldn't have to tell
me every little thing to do. To say. To give to you. At some point in all of our lives
we reach different levels and sometimes at that level is God is like you know who I am.
You know what I've done. You know that I'm faithful and true. You know what my word says.
You know what your testimony is. Do I really need to tell you exactly what to say or how
to present it. Do you not know me. And I said well of course I know you. And so God just
sits there. And what He's saying by not saying anything is Ron I want a greater intimacy
with you. And this is the image that came into my head. The example that came into my
head. And that is the relationship that I have with my wife Debbie. Right. We've been
married over 30 years. Right. In those 30 years I know my wife. I can be sitting with
her in silence. I can walk into a room that I haven't been in all day long. And I can
tell how she feels. I can tell whether she's happy or whether she's sad. I can tell whether
she needs something or whether she wants to be left alone. Right. That is a level of intimacy
that you develop with your partner. Right. She doesn't need to tell me or I should say
she shouldn't need to tell me. Right. But she doesn't need to tell me most of the time.
That's kind of what God is telling me. You have a relationship with me Ron. We've been
together long enough and I've given you every picture of me every example of me. I've given
you unfettered access to me. Do you know me? If you know me I don't need to tell you everything
because I've already told you. I've already shown you. You have all of this knowledge
and all of this experience with me to draw on, to share with people. I just want to sit
with you and I want you to know me as you have been known by me. That is the level of
intimacy that God is trying to develop often when there is a period of silence in a time
of your call. It's that leveling up type thing. It's that growing up type of thing. The things
that he wants me to know, things that he wants me to grow in during this season are the trusting
again. And then I'm going to say the same thing, trusting that he is God Almighty and
that he has demonstrated his authority, his sovereignty and his power in accomplishing
what he wants to accomplish. And that it may not be what I think will bring him joy or
glory, but it is in the way that he desires. He also teaches me that my desires and assessments
of a situation are not relevant if they end up being apart from his plan. And lastly,
he's not obligated to reveal his plan to me one bit. He does desire for me to cry out
to him though and to express my hope and my trust in him in all things. And all that leads
to me express my love and my praise and thanksgiving to the Lord of all who loves me and he knows
my name. Imagine doing all this with a Bible study, all this of him being silent, just
to make these things clear to me as I try to make them clear to you about how he works
and how he's working in my own life and hoping that that would be an encouragement to you.
And in him is not easy, but it is necessary for all who would call him Father and Savior
and Spirit and Lord. So let me give it to you in a nutshell just as I try to wrap all
this stuff up. I know we're running a little late, but when there are times of silence,
examine your walk, repent and make any correction. That should be obvious, right? You want to
get rid of the clutter. If it's clutter that's acting as the barrier, deal with the clutter,
right? But the next thing you got to move to right away because it changes everything
is to accept God's power and authority. And then you got to listen to what he has said
and what he's done in the past and you got to listen to what he is saying and what he's
doing now in the present. Remember who he is in his word always and in the testimony
that is now a part of your life and the lives of others. Ladies, we talked about this way
back in Mother's Day about singing your song, right? That's what we're talking about. That
song is your testimony projected to others. This is where it comes into play. And then
recognize that the silence can sometimes be an act of intimacy between you and the Lord.
It's not because of a problem. It's not because of judgment. It's not because of anything
other than God wants to sit with you and have that level of intimacy with you where words
are not necessary. You know each other. And then lastly, always keep talking to him through
Thanksgiving, praise, and petition. Your prayer life, don't stop that. Put no barrier to that
ever. How can you know somebody if you don't talk to them? He desires you to talk with
him always. In closing closing, and I promise, promise this time, I want you to turn to 1
Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. You know the Word of God is always the
best. And so I'm going to let it speak for itself. So in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, go
with me to verse 16. This is what it says. Rejoice always and delight in your faith.
Be unceasing and persistent in prayer. And in every situation, no matter what the circumstances,
be thankful and continually give thanks to God. For this is the will of God for you in
Christ Jesus. Do not quench, subdue, or be unresponsive to the working and guidance of
the Holy Spirit. Do not scorn or reject gifts of prophecy or prophecies spoken or prophecies,
spoken revelations, word of instructions, or exhortation or warning. But test all things
carefully so you can recognize what is good. Hold firmly to that which is good. Abstain
from every form of evil. Withdraw and keep away from it. Verse 23. Now may the God of
peace himself sanctify you through and through. That is, separate you from profane and vulgar
things. Make you pure and whole and undamaged, consecrated to him, set apart for his purpose.
And may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and be found blameless in the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithfully and absolutely trustworthy is he who is calling you to himself
for salvation. He will do it. He will fulfill his call by making you holy, guarding you,
watching over you, and protecting you as his own. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for
your word and Lord we ask that we would remember always and that you would bring to our remembrance
always who you are and that is Lord God Almighty, creator of all. It is in you that all power
resides. It is in you that our very breath has been given. It is in you that all things
were made. And because of who you are God, how could we not put our hope and trust completely
in you. We walk by faith in that God and hope to see you face to face soon and very soon
until then God, yes, we ask that you speak. But we also understand God that in the silence,
in that sound of silence, you are still there and you do still speak. It may not be in the
way that we think or the way that we are used to or even the way that we want, but it is
in the perfect way just as you are perfect. God, let us trust in that. Let us move forward
in that. Let us joy in that as you bring us to yourself for greater intimacy God so that
we know you as you know us. God fill us with your spirit and fill our mouths with the joy
of the words of salvation that have been given to us as we speak to others, our testimonies
and of the words of life that will bring eternal life and forgiveness to those who need you.
God thank you and it is in Jesus name we pray. Amen. I bless you guys.