"Why is God silent?"

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent." Psalm 30:11-12a

Why is God silent? Have you ever found yourself asking that question? I know I have. There have been times in my life where I've asked for God's intervention in an area of concern or His help where it seemed like the end result would bring glory to Him. So, why the silence?

I thought about that very thing this morning when reading Psalm 30. In fact, that seems to be a common theme in the Psalms where David longingly waited for the Father to hear him and intervene. David cried out to God over his enemies many, many times. Many of his prayers seemed desperate. Yet in this Psalm, he's rejoicing because the Lord has heard his cries.

There have been times in my life where I've prayed hard over situations and things just seemed stagnant. It didn't make sense until I got on the other side of things. This has happened in both big and small ways. And an example of one of the smaller ways this happened was evident this morning. You see, I've prayed for a long time over my children (and I'll never stop praying for them). I've prayed for them to have a heart for God outside of our instruction. Because unfortunately, I think many of us have the tendency to want to take control of every facet of our children's lives and while they desperately need our guidance and protection, there are times when we must pray over them to make right decisions, using careful discernment that those times won't be times when making a wrong decision could bring harm to them. I long for my children to want to do what's right not because of the fear of getting into trouble but because of conviction in God's word. I want them to have discernment in feeling the conviciton of the Holy Spirit. In other words, I don't want to have to nag them over everything!

Well, this morning, I got a glimpse of the Holy Spirit working in them. It may not sound like a big deal, but believe me, it meant the world to me. To provide a little background, we've had some sickness in our household in the last two weeks. My daughter and I have both had illness off and on. My husband had to travel out of town and I found myself just exhausted in trying to rest but taking care of my daughter in the midst of a terrible stomach virus. Well, thankfully, she's feeling much better today as am I. Yet, I'm still pretty weak. So, after breakfast, I had the kids clearing the dishes from the table and asked them to go brush their teeth while I went to brush mine. When I came back out of the bathroom I found that they had not only brushed their teeth but had worked together to take out the kitchen trash. My heart melted because that's something I ususally have to ask them to do. When I asked why they said, "Well, we just want to help you out, Mom. We know you don't feel well and it's not just your job to take out the trash." What a blessing. My heart was full.

I've spent a lot of time asking God to mold them. I want them to long to please Him as their heart's desire. There have been many times in parenting them where I wondered if things were sinking in. I wondered what I was doing wrong. Don't get me wrong, they've always been good kids, but there's a selfishness in all of us that can be easily seen in parenting. Countless times I've cleaned the house to find toys or food on the floor within minutes and when I asked someone to clean it up it seemed to take forever to get the job done well. I guess the perseverance does pay off, even though I know I can't expect perfection.

In thinking over silence from God, I think we often miss the boat. I could've easily come to the conclusion that God wasn't listening to me because of the mess in my daughter's room or the breakfast dishes left on the table. But then, God showed me how He works. I have to be a keen observer at times to have a full appreciation so that I don't miss His work in my life. That example in itself makes me think of Elijah. Eljah's life was being threatened by Jezebel and he just didn't understand what was going on. He reached out to the Lord in desperate prayer. The Lord's reply was " "Go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord." And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice." 1 Kings 19:11-12 There the Lord was in that still, small voice.

So persevere in prayer. For the Lord can appear in that still, small voice. Ask Him to reveal it to you. It's something you surely won't want to miss. I know I was blessed by it this morning!

Lord, help us not to miss that still, small voice. Father, I pray that we might feel Your presence. Speak to us and prepare our hearts to listen. Prepare in us hearts of contrition and ready and willing for Your commands. Furthermore, thank you so much for Your presence in our lives. Thank You for the Counselor you've left with us in the form of the Holy Spirit that we might know Your voice. Guide us and mold us to grow and mature. Let us put off all that hinders and seek to be made less that You might become more in our lives. We magnify Your sweet name. In the name of my Savior Jesus, Amen.