Waiting is hard. But it’s much easier when we have a clear answer and timeline for what we’re waiting for. And this is what makes waiting in silence so difficult. Our desires remain just as intense, but we must be persistent waiting in faith – trusting in God’s goodness even as we endure excruciating silence.
To be sure, waiting for the next holiday, social event, or the birth of our next child can also be hard. But generally this is just an issue of time. We can mark the day on our calendar and remain confident and clear that we’re getting closer every day.
What’s harder is waiting for a breakthrough at work or in our relationships, trying to conceive, or for justice to be fully realized in our life. Whatever it looks like, there’s no clear timeline, or even how God will respond.
Perhaps we could wait patiently if there was a clear “Yes” from God, and it was just a matter of time to receive the desires of our heart. And we could allow ourselves to grieve if we got a clear “No” as well. While this is not what we want, we would still trust in God’s goodness and have the freedom to eventually move on
But silence is a bitter pill to swallow. There are no clear markers to hold on to and we must simply be persistent in our prayers and requests to God. Like the stubborn widow, we plead our case relentlessly before our loving God – trusting he will perfect those things which concern us. And it takes a confident faith to be this stubbornly persistent and not give up. All too often we pray and quickly give up when things don’t seem to be moving on our timeline or in the ways we can understand.
God’s silence is not indifference. Somehow this resilient faith that perseveres is part of his work of transformation in our lives.
In the end, keep asking, searching, and knocking even when you’re growing weary, and it seems like God is silent. He has not forgotten, and your persistent faith will be rewarded.
Photo by Mohammad Alizade on Unsplash
