When God is Silent

One of the problems with the whole human race is that when things are going well, we tend to think we are doing something right and good and we don’t need God in our lives. We don’t talk to Him so much then. But when things are going poorly, we cry out to God to fix them so we can feel comfortable and successful again. I recently heard a young man say, “I don’t believe so much in a God who interacts with me or cares about me on a daily basis, but when I am in crisis, I do still pray!” Many people see prayer to God as a last resort, when nothing else could fix the problem and they don’t know what else to do. Something inside us cries out to God when we fear for our lives or the lives of loved ones.

Hezekiah was a great king in Judah. He is known for his faith in God when the Assyrian army came against Jerusalem. They had just successfully taken over many territories and informed Hezekiah and his people that their God was no different than the many gods they had overcome already. The complete story is in II Kings 18-20 and II Chronicles 29-32. King Hezekiah worked hard to fortify the city and reroute the water so it would not be available to Sennacherib’s army. Then he laid out the written threats and blasphemous words of Sennacherib before the Lord and prayed. And Isaiah prophesied and an angel of the Lord went out that night and killed 185,000 enemy soldiers. And Sennacherib went home in disgrace.

After that great “victory”, surrounding people groups feared King Hezekiah and paid tribute to him and he became very wealthy and respected. And then he had a life-threatening illness, and after praying, God healed him and gave him more years. This is the most dangerous time for leaders as they begin to think they are invincible, they become proud, arrogant, and entitled in their thinking. Hezekiah was no exception. But he is an exception in that when he was confronted by it, he humbled himself and repented.

Ambassadors from Babylon came to see if what they heard about King Hezekiah and Judah was true and II Chronicles 32:31 tells us that “God withdrew from Hezekiah in order to test him and to see what was really in his heart.” Hezekiah failed the test! Without God keeping him in check, Hezekiah’s pride took over again. He saw an opportunity to brag about all his accomplishments and all that he gained in his lifetime instead of an opportunity to give God the credit due Him. And the spies saw exactly what they needed to do to conquer this land.

I wonder what I do when God is silent. Do I still believe that He is the eternal God, the One who helped me get where I am today, the One who is always present with me, the One who will be there loving me no matter what my circumstances are? Or do I see Him as a distant memory? Do I seek His wisdom in all decisions, or do I think, “I got this!” Is my confidence in my own ability or in the ability God has given me and is willing to direct in me? Do I only call out to God when I am in distress? Or do I seek Him in all things? Do I trust and honor God, or believe I can and have to do everything on my own?

Hezekiah was a great king. But in the end, he lost it all for the future generations because of pride and failure to trust only in his God and give Him the glory for all that He did.

Oh God, help me to be faithful in trusting you whether I am successful or in need. Help me to never let pride cloud my vision and keep me from seeing you at work. And when you are silent, help me to trust you even more! Amen.

The Unusual Pairing of Ecclesiastes and Christmas!

What do Ecclesiastes and Christmas have to do with each other? I recently read a statistic that over 70% of all people approach the Christmas holidays saying they are depressed – some from grief of losing loved ones, some because they are more keenly aware of all they are lacking, and some for reasons only they know.

Ecclesiastes seems to be a dark book. Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless… But Solomon is onto something. He has explored all of life, the pleasures of this world, the wealth of this world, hard work and foolishness. He is one of the few people in the world that could say that he had it all! Yet, he realized that we all die – whether we are rich, have done it all, and own property and have power over other human beings, or whether we are poor and have nothing. We die and we can’t take anything we have possessed here on earth with us. In fact, we have to leave it here for others who didn’t earn it. This leads him to wonder, why are we here? What is the meaning in this life?

I think his question goes all the way back to Genesis – the beginning of time and the first humans in the Garden of Eden. Satan convinced Eve to take the forbidden fruit because he told her that her eyes would be opened. But the deceiver was lying. Her eyes were clouded and now though she could see more clearly the things of this world, she lost the ability to dwell in God’s presence and see the things of the spirit.

Solomon is actually getting a glimpse of what he is missing because of our human focus now on pleasure through things rather than pleasure through relationship with our Maker, the Maker of the universe! Without that eternal focus, our life here is meaningless. Jesus came to restore our ability to see and hear – to see God at work and to hear His voice instructing us which way to go, our purpose and destiny in this world. Without God, there is no meaning – only the seeking of comfort and pleasure.

This Christmas, as we celebrate with lights and gifts, let’s take time to adore and worship the King who came as a baby to open our eyes and give us true pleasure and meaning in life. It doesn’t matter if we are rich or poor, if we work with our hands or work with our minds, if we are grieving or feel on top of the world. He came to give us back our true sight – knowing and walking with our Savior, our God and Maker of the universe and all that is in it! Let’s focus and worship Him!