When God Seems Silent:
What Do You Do When You Can't Hear God?

It can be hard when God seems silent. What do you do when you can't hear God and He seems far away?

I've experienced days, weeks, and even months when God gave a good impression of being silent. Yet although I couldn't hear God or see evidence of Him at work, He was active. God is always at work, it's simply that He doesn't always tell you what He's doing.

When God seems silent, remember that He is faithful, and trust that you will hear Him when the time is right.

How Do You Respond When God Seems Silent?

It's easier to go through things when you know why. But God doesn't always let you in on the why.

What do you do when the enemy tries to tell you lies?...

  • What makes you think that you can hear God?
  • God isn't going to speak to you, you don't deserve it
  • You don't really know God at all
  • God doesn't care about you
  • He's given up on you
  • God isn't real. You've just been making it up

Do you rely on your feelings, or do you trust God's promises?

When God seems silent

  • Hold on to what you already know - what's the last thing God said?
  • God could be testing you - what do you really believe?
  • Don't start to doubt what you know
  • Don't compare yourself to other people
  • Beware of making things overcomplicated - faith is childlike
  • Walk by faith, not by sight
God promised that He would never leave you or forsake you. God is always with you. When God seems silent, let Him guide you even in the apparent silence.

Remember that

  • God is guiding you now
  • He's guided you in the past
  • He will guide you in the future

God's apparent silence is an invitation to take your eyes off the circumstance and to look to Jesus who is the author and finisher of your faith.

Dare to trust God and draw even closer.

Some obstacles to hearing God

  • Wrong ideas about God and how he speaks
  • Unbelief - “God couldn’t, wouldn’t, doesn’t”
  • Busyness
  • Sin
  • Lack of practice
  • Expecting God to speak in a particular way
  • Wrong motives

Overcome the obstacles to hearing God

  • Learn to wait for God
  • Stop insisting on your own way
  • Resist manipulating Him
  • Don't resort to maiupulating the circumstances

Hearing God involves waiting and listening

Remember that God hasn't abandoned you, He's still with you and He knows all about it.

“Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.”
Psalm 139:7-10

“…surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:20

Take heart. Don't give up

"Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he will strengthen your heart."

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