If God Is Silent

When Patty first came to our home Bible study and began praying as a new Christian, she received remarkable answers to prayer. Small things she asked for appeared in such unusual ways that she could not mistake those happenings as coincidences.

After Patty had been a Christian longer, it was almost as if God said, "Now your faith can endure more testing, so My work will not be so evident. I desire to see your faith."

We do not always see God at work because, as the hymnist put it, He is often "silent as light." He reveals Himself just enough to give us hope and to increase our faith, but not enough to destroy faith. "Hope that is seen is no hope at all" (Romans 8:24).

Faith is the evidence of things not seen; if we saw all, no faith would be needed. In His perfect wisdom, God reveals Himself just enough to keep us exercising faith.

Because our faith is so precious to God, at times He may allow us to cry with the psalmist, "How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?" (89:46). If God is silent, then we must cling to one truth: Ultimately we will see God's faithfulness.

Father, thank You for this current difficulty that gives me an opportunity to trust You.

"What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see....So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him"  (Hebrews 11:1, 6 NLT).