When God is Silent

WHEN GOD IS SILENT
"Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael. When Abram was
ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God
Almighty;
walk before me and be blameless" (Genesis 16:16-17:1, NIV).
Abraham was seventy-five years old when God told him to leave his people and
go to a land that He would show him. This command was with a seven-fold
promise
that God would make Abraham into a great nation; that God would bless him;
that God would make his name great; that he would be a blessing; that God
would
bless those who bless him, and curse those who curse him; and that all
people on earth would be blessed through him (see Genesis 12:1-4). These
promises
were made to a man that did not have any biological child at seventy-five.
Yet he believed God and obeyed Him. After some time, God reaffirmed His
promises
for him, but he wondered how the promises would be fulfilled since he
remained childless. He even reasoned that his head servant would inherit his
possession.
However, God reassured him that "a son coming from [his] own body will be
[his] heir" (Genesis 15:4, NIV), and that his descendants would inherit the
land
where he was a stranger. Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as
righteousness.
However, when it seemed that God was silent and relented in fulfilling His
promise to give him a son, Sarah, Abraham' wife, and he tried to help God.
They
arranged that the maidservant of Sarah should bear children for Abraham.
This according to their custom was right, but that was not God's absolute
plan
for them. At eighty-six, Hagar, Sarah's maidservant bore Abraham a son named
Ishmael. It was as if God was still silent about His promises for Abraham
for another thirteen years. Abraham might have been thinking that God would
fulfill His promises through Ishmael. In fact, he argued in that direction
when God appeared to him again after thirteen years when he doubted the fact
that Sarah could still bear a son in her old age and told God to let Ishmael
receive the blessings. God told him that His absolute will was for Isaac,
the son that Sarah would bear, not Ishmael (Genesis 17:15-21). It might seem
as if God was silent, but He had a plan for Abraham and Sarah, and He
declared the plan: ".my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah
will bear
to you by this time next year" (Genesis 17:21, NIV). God did fulfill His
plans and promises in the life of Abraham.
In what way is God silent about your affairs? Have you lost confidence in
Him for His silence? Are you trying to help God? It may seem as if God is
silent,
but He is not. He has a better plan for you. He says, "For I know the plans
I have for you.plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV). Hear this also: "'For my thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD.
'As
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from
heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud
and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent
it.
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap
their
hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of
briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD's renown, for an
everlasting
sign, which will not be destroyed'" (Isaiah 55:8-13, NIV).
When God is seemingly silent about your affair, He wants you to "walk before
[Him] and be blameless" (Genesis 17:1, NIV). That is, be faithful and wait
for His miracle. It may be in a long time, but He will certainly do it!
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).