Never confuse God’s silence for His absence.
If you had one question you could ask God, what would it be? A funny question? Something you’ve always wanted to know about the Bible? Or perhaps something more heartfelt, like a “why?”
If, like me, you’ve ever lost a loved one who died way too young, you might probably want to ask God why they had to go so soon.
The problem with asking God questions, at least on this side of heaven, is that we may never find out the answer.
Even Jesus, when he cried out to God, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” did not receive an answer (Matthew 27:46 NIV). There was no voice from heaven in reply to His cry.
There’s an important lesson for us here.
There might be times in your life when you ask God, “Why???”
“Why can’t I have children?”“Why did You allow my marriage to fail?”“Why did I lose my job?”“Why didn’t You heal my son?”
We must learn to accept the fact that even though we ask God those hard and honest questions, He may choose to answer in silence.
Even so, that shouldn’t stop us from pouring our hearts and our “Why’s?” out to God. He is still listening.
And, more importantly, we should never confuse God’s silence for His absence.
God may not have promised to answer our every question, but He has promised to always be with us:
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. – Isaiah 41:10 NIV
Crying out to God may not provide you with an instant solution, but it does show that you still believe He is near.
