348 – Four Days of Silence or 400 Years?

#faithbites #faithjourney Silence

I have missed four days of work this week due to the prep, procedure, and after effects of the colonoscopy. This has been the worst one and I never expected to be out this long. It has almost been radio silence from work during these days. I know that work is still going on and I have things to catch up on when I get back. But four days of not being with my work colleagues, our students, and moving forward on tasks has been hard. For someone with anxiety, not being in the loop or the know, is pretty challenging and mind-numbing.

This silence has only been four days. I wonder what it would be like to have silence for 400 years. That is the estimated time between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. We know history still happened, but according to Christian belief, God was silent during these times. His people didn’t hear from him, didn’t have any prophets, and didn’t know what was coming next. They were in the darkness night for 400 years before the light came.

Scripture

• I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me – Job 30:20
• O God of my praise, Do not be silent! – Psalm 109:1
• The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. – Psalm 19:1

Reflection

The Bible, both Old and New Testaments are filled with direct interaction from God. Between the prophets, Jesus, and God himself, he is always there in one form or another. Yet, even in those days, God seemed to be silent from time to time. Job screamed out to him, David asked why he was forsaken (Psalm 22:1-2), and many more stories like this.

In our lives, we don’t seem to have that direct interaction with God as they did in those days. But even though he is present, we see silence. We only need to look to see he isn’t silent but very loud. In Psalms we see the heavens declare the glory of God. In Genesis, we see God created everything. If he was silent, we wouldn’t have all of these things. We just need to listen to him and hear him.

I may not have received responses from most people at me being out, but I know they were talking about me. Those that did write me, hoped for my healing and understood. The people were there, and the work got done, even if I didn’t hear it. God is the same way, we just need to trust he is there and not silent for 4 seconds, let alone 400 years.

Charge

Do you hear God regularly? Maybe you wonder why you can’t hear him or he doesn’t answer quickly. Trust in God. Take a moment to truly listen to him. Use your ears, your eyes, your nose, your hands, your tongue, and your heart. Your senses will tell you he is there.

Lord, help me to hear you at all times. Even in the darkest of nights, don’t let me feel alone. Allow your light to remind me, you are always there for me.