I recently had an interesting conversation with a woman about her spiritual journey. During an acutely painful period in her life, she lost a child. In her grief, God remained silent. She wondered why he wasn’t speaking words of comfort to her. Eventually, she began to review the spiritual markers in her life. She chronicled key moments when God had spoken clearly to her, revealing his character, his will, and his ways. As she remembered those important interactions, something dawned on her. God had already told her everything she needed to know during that difficult period. Truth by truth, Scripture by Scripture, God had equipped her to weather the storm he knew was coming. God hadn’t been silent. He had been preparing her for years to face the greatest challenge of her life.
It can be difficult to process truths while we are in pain. When our emotions are raw and our heart aches, our minds don’t work very well. Therefore, God may reveal truths when we are in a better space to understand and embrace them. Like stocking up on preserves before a long, cold winter, God loads our emotional and spiritual shelves in advance with the resources we will need to navigate difficult seasons.
My mother cultivated a large garden when I was a child. We didn’t have much money, and we never ate at restaurants, so it was important that she stored all manner of fruits and vegetables during the summer. We had large storage shelves in our basement. She would fill row after row with canned produce before winter struck (and it struck hard in Canada!).
Likewise, a wise person stores up biblical truths and insights in preparation for whatever the future holds. How blessed is the person whose shelves are filled to the brim with God’s truth and wisdom!
God knows the future, so he doesn’t have to wait until we are in a crisis to speak to us. He can prepare us months, even years in advance. Keeping a spiritual journal is a helpful practice. My father always said that anything God tells us is worth writing down. Whenever I enter a challenging season, one of the first things I do is review what God has told me during the previous months and years. I often find that God was systematically preparing me for what he already knew was coming.
I must be a careful steward of what God tells me. He might reveal a truth that seems irrelevant at the time. And it may be. But it could become crucial within the next year. Life is filled with twists and turns. When God impresses a truth on my heart, I first seek any current application to my life. If I can’t find any, I place it in a sidebar to review as soon as my circumstances change.
God certainly does remain silent at times. He has his reasons. It’s also possible that he has already told us what we need to know. We simply need to apply those truths to our current situation.
Is God being silent in your life? Or has he already spoken?
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