When God is Silent

“For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with great compassion I will take you back”.     Isa. 54:7  NLT

We should accept the fact that there will be times when Jesus will be silent with us.

When the Syrophoenician woman came asking Jesus to heal her daughter, Jesus surprised everyone with His response.

He did three things:  He refused to help her, He said He came to help others and He said that the children’s food should not be given to the dogs.  (Matt. 15:21-28)

After those strange responses, I would think the lady would have left angry.  But she did not and Jesus knew she would not, since He was only testing her faith.  Once that faith had been tested, it was given full permission.

“You have great faith!  Your request has been granted.”  (Vs 28)

When Jesus is silent at times with us or ask a strange request, it is for our growth.   He wants our faith to be purified by obstacles until it reaches the point where we can ask for the impossible.

There have been times when we have all experienced a time of prayer and things got worse instead of better.   This is a time where Jesus is testing us in order to strain selfishness out of our prayers.

He wants our faith to be battle ready and the only way to accomplish that is to put Himself where He seems to be out of reach or silent, momentarily.

The combination of obstacles and a ‘silent’ God often times tend to discourage us, but it is exactly there that we must be persistent, like the Syrophoenician woman, until Jesus finally turns and says, “Your faith is great!”

The brief moment of His forsaking will pass and with great mercies He will return and gather us and vindicate us.  (Isa. 54:7,17)

“To God, my defender, I say,
Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go on suffering
from the cruelty of my enemies?”   Psalm 42:9  GNT