I was on my way home the other day after stopping at another person’s home to drop something off. Because I was unfamiliar with the exact route I should take home I entered my address in Google maps and began my journey. I drove, enjoying a podcast, with the occasional interruption from Google telling me to “turn left in a quarter mile” or “continue straight for 1.3 miles”. I came to a stop sign and had to make either a right or left-hand turn. That’s when it happened (or didn’t I should say). Google had gone silent. No notification. No direct command on where to turn. Nothing. Sheer silence. It was unsettling at first. Uncertainty paralyzed me at that moment.
Ever have that feeling? Blissfully rolling down the road confident in where you are going and that you are on the right path, only to be stopped in your tracks uncertain of what to do next, waiting on the next directive. You’ve likely experienced that or something similar when driving, but what about in the circumstances of life? The unexpected job transition. Or the death of a loved one. Possibly just the mundane routine of life is interrupted and you are left unsure of what to do next. A simple directive would be nice. A clear command or instruction would prove invaluable. Maybe you’ve even told God, “I’m ready to listen, speak to me”.
“God doesn’t love you any less, and you don’t need to listen for a whisper or wait on abstract nudges from God.”
Lara d’Entremont
What happens when you are poised and ready for God to speak, eager with great anticipation like a 3-year-old awaiting their parent’s arrival home after a long absence, but all you hear is silence? How do you respond to deafening silence after pleading with God to utter something…anything? The seeming silence of God is a much more difficult issue than missing a directional command on your way home. So what is one to do? Lara d’Entremont addresses her own wrestling this experience in “What If God Doesn’t Speak to Me?“. She is open, honest, transparent, and so helpful in the article.
Quiet can be a very good thing (trust me with 5 kids running around our home, silence is something I often crave). But noiselessness, when craving direction or interaction, feels like abandonment. That is one reason I truly appreciated Lara’s article. Whether you agree entirely with her conclusions or not, her comforting encouragement and truthful reminder is a needed salve to a parched soul. Despite what season you are in, beliefs you hold, or past you’ve experienced remember…God has spoken to you and is ready to do so today. Will you hear?
As always, I’d love to hear from my readers. Disagree? Great, reach out to me and we can dialogue as I know I am in constant need of adjustment. Need encouragement? I’d love to listen, learn, and pray for or with you. Don’t forget to be with the Lord’s people on the Lord’s day.
Until Next Time…
Photo by Isaac Mehegan on Unsplash
Preacher on the Run... 
April 7, 2022 at 9:09 pm
Kenny,
Thanks for sharing.
I think this author seems well- intentioned to abate some self shame or confusion about how communicating with God takes place. I’m sure this article has been helpful for a range of people.
In reading her article, she made an indefensible conclusion at the end when she writes, “As I’ve grown, deepened my theology, and studied the Bible more, I’ve learned that God doesn’t speak audibly.“
There is no single verse I am aware of that claims God doesn’t speak audibly, as she claims to have learned through theology and Bible study. God seemed to speak audibly all throughout Scripture, namely to his only begotten Son, who is our example (ergo, if he had encounters with Father, then we are expected to in similar ways).
Theology can tend to shrink our view of God into the confines to which our theology seeks to explain, but more often constrains God to.
My experience in communication with God has been bigger and deeper than the theology I maintained. My theology had to expand in order to hold a bigger God. Theology isn’t supposed to give us a smaller God who operates only in ways we can understand and are comfortable with.
Sometimes we are not yet ready to hear God in the way we see others do. When we are ready, and we are willing to not give up the pursuit of him in deeper and richer ways, he will break through and communicate in ways we have hitherto not experienced or imagined.
I think it makes God sad when we form a theology around our experience so we don’t feel disappointed with God or ourselves. Instead, he could be inviting in to a pursuit of him that won’t always come easily. Further up, further in.
My two cents,
Micah