Give God Time

There are seasons where God seems silent. You pray and feel no answer. You read the Bible and the words feel empty. You look at the sky and it seems closed. If you're there, you need to know something: You're not alone, and you haven't done anything wrong.

David, the man after God's own heart, experienced that silence: "How long will you forget me?" Even Jesus on the cross exclaimed, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" God's silence is not God's absence.

Sometimes God is silent so that we can develop deeper faith—a faith that depends not on feelings but on truths. Sometimes he is silent because he is preparing something that requires patience. And sometimes what we perceive as silence is simply our momentary inability to listen.

In the quiet seasons, discipline is more important than emotion. Keep reading even if you don't "feel" anything. Keep praying even though the sky seems to be made of bronze. Keep worshipping even if the tears flow. Because when the storm passes—and it will—you will discover that God never left.