When God is silent
I was reading the Book of Job recently, and sensed I needed to share with you the following lessons when God seems silent:
- If you have repented of your sins and made the Lord your Saviour, you are righteous before God. Nothing happens without God allowing it. From God's conversation with Satan concerning Job, we learn that every painful experience or circumstance you are going through has been instigated by Satan (Job 1 – 2). God is silent from chapter 3 to 38 (35 chapters) because of wrong conversations between Job and his well meaning friends. Job thought God was oppressing him and yet he was not guilty of any wrongdoing (chapter 10). On the other hand, Job's friends accused him of being a sinner hence why he was suffering. Both Job and his friends were saying wrong things about God.
- A wise lesson to shorten the time for God's restoration is to pray for all people you have conversations with, always forgiving those that persecute you and blessing them. We get this insight at the end when God told Job's friends to go to Job and have him pray for their sins.
- When a person is in trouble because of sin, God will always show him the evil he has done and if he repents he will quickly be restored (Job 36:8-12). Here is a checklist of key areas we may have compromised our relationship with the Lord:
- Unforgiveness (forgive others as we want to be forgiven by God, daily)
- Unhealthy marriage relationship (this hinders prayer). Wives and husbands - what do you gain if your spouse's prayers are hindered because of your anger? Both of you lose.
- Unfaithfulness with God's money (tithes & offerings - Malachi 3). Don't rob God and expect blessings from Him. Again both husband and wife need to be faithful in this area.
- Wrong deeds unrestored (cheating or offending people). Find ways of restoring them quickly (example Zacchaeus)
- Disobedience. Is there a place God wants you to go or something God wants you to do and you have not obeyed?
- Unconfessed sins - in Psalm 66:18 the Psalmist says "if I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened" to my prayers. Loving and rationalising sin will cut you off from answered prayers.
- Calm down. Be still and know that God is God. Repent of the sins God shows you. Job spoke of things he did not understand. When God finally challenged him on what he and his friends had been saying, he repented. (Job 38-42).
- When we pray for one another and together God responds. God commanded Job's friends to take seven bulls and seven rams to Job and together they offered this to God. Job immediately started experiencing his turnaround.
- When in trouble and applying these lessons, we are closer to the truth and have the hope of coming out better than we were before the adversity began.
- Don't worry about how God will restore you. In His goodness God gave Job a double portion of everything he had lost without explanation.
Farai Mutsambiwa | |
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