When God Seems Silent

I was talking with someone the other day about ways to help someone who is really going through it. One of the suggestions they had was for the person to help someone else who is going through something worse than they are. That helps give perspective on their situation and gets the focus off of you and onto others. One of my suggestions was to have them try to recount all the prayers God has answered in their life. That helps them to shift focus from their problem to God who is able to take care of the situation. It also reminds them that they’ve been in tight spots before and God showed up. Sometimes in the middle of our problems we forget that God hasn’t abandoned us before and He’s not going to today.

I love Psalm 77 because it’s an honest prayer by Asaph when Jerusalem was under siege. Things were bad with no escape in sight. The report was that no one would survive. He has sleepless nights, fears of what ifs and questions of God’s goodness. He wrote, “Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me? Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed?” (NLT) These are all real questions we face when going through a hard time. This man led worship on the Temple and was chosen by King David, yet he struggled with questions doubting God’s goodness in the middle of a hard time. However, his psalm doesn’t end there.

In verses 11-12 he changed his perspective. He wrote, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.” By doing this, he switched his momentary perspective of God to an eternal one. In the moment, sometimes it doesn’t feel like God is good, but when we look back across a lifetime and history of creation, we can clearly see the track record of His goodness. He also decided to meditate on the things God has done in the past rather than his problems of the present. In doing so, Asaph remembered, “Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters— a pathway no one knew was there!” God’s deliverance comes when no one sees a way out and it’s often a path that unseen in the moment. We must keep trusting God, remember all He’s done and be prepared for Him to make a way where there seems to be no way.

Photo by Leo_Visions on Unsplash