Waiting: When God is Silent
Tick-tock, tick-tock.
Waiting on God’s direction when you are desperate for answers can see overwhelming and frustrating. The longer that God is silent, the more desperate and restless one may become.
Personally, I have waited through surgeries as I braced for a cancer diagnosis.
I waited, broken and grieving, for my season of infertility to an end and to nestle a baby of my own.
I waited anxiously and nervously for an Autism diagnosis that I prayed wouldn’t come.
I waited some more, grieving the Autism diagnosis, and for God to piece me back together.
While I’ve spent much of the last ten years waiting, we have all waited on the Lord at some point or another.
Here’s how a restless soul can navigate the rocky waters of waiting and learn to trust God through uncertainty.
Still seek God.
No matter how mad or upset we are in this season of waiting, don’t stop talking to Him.
Pour out your needs and sorrows to Him and pray without ceasing. Open His Word to find His comfort and peace. His promises are ready to meet your brokenness and to soothe your anxious heart.
Prayer changes our heart, no matter how beaten and battered it may be. It allows us to draw near to the only true source of strength and to find comfort in His powerful presence.
It’s ok to ask God why and to question Him.
As I waited for God to reveal His path to me, often I felt surrounded by darkness. The darkness of grief and sorrow engulfed me, and often blocked out the glory of God’s hope and promises. Many times I cried out, asking God why He would allow certain aspects of our life to happen.
In my time of questioning and suffering, I mirrored the actions of children who scream and cry for instant gratification. We, as adults, do that with God; cry, scream and yell, expecting Him to magically produce an answer.
The times I have demanded an answer, He simply held me as I cried and whispered to me that He could take it.
He can take our questions, our rants and raves.
He can take our plea to lighten our burdens.
In those tense moments, He reminds us who He is, the Creator of the Universe. NOTHING is too big for Him to handle.
Let God carry your burden.
God wants us to give our desperation to Him once and for all, despite the waiting and the wondering,
He wants to carry the weight of our burdens, to take the heavy yoke upon His shoulders and to provide relief for His weary children.
We can relinquish control by praying, releasing our burdens back to Him and seeking His will for our life.
Realistically that means when you try to control the situation or the worrying starts again; stop. Recognize that you are trying to take control, and ask God to take your burdens from you once more.
Trust that God will answer in His own time.
Even when it doesn’t seem like it or you can’t “feel it”, God is at work in your situation.
He has a path planned for you and thankfully sees the bigger picture of your life.
The Creator of the Universe knows you by name.
He knows the numbers of hair on your head and the details of a face that He made in His image.
The Bible tells us that He will never leave or forsake us, and when we are in the pit, in those places of darkness, He is there.
He is comforting us, grieving with us, and sees what we don’t see. In our pain and in our humanity, we have a limited view of our circumstances, but He knows how all the pieces will intertwine.
Even when His plan includes waiting, He is guiding us according to His perfect will.
Remember that God wants His name to be glorified.
In the waiting period, where we are seeking His face for answers, remember how God longs to be praised.
He wants us, in our pain, frustration and angst, to praise Him anyways, even when it seems impossible.
On those days when you are consumed with longing, simply give thanks. You may not be thanking Him for your season of waiting or for your circumstances, but you can thank Him for being God.
Thank Him for loving you so He would endure a loss Himself, as He sent His only Son, Jesus, to take your place on the cross.
Thank Him that the waiting isn’t forever, and He will provide answers and direction, even if it’s not our ideal path.
The waiting period isn’t always easy or short, but God is there. Take His hand, and let Him lead you in faith, and trust Him through this great unknown we call life. While you wait, draw near to His perfect peace and praise Him for His unending love.
