***My first post was not written in a Biblical framework. I want to clarify what I was meaning to say and apologize for any confusion I may have caused***
“No temptation [Trial, proving, integrity, fidelity, virtue, constancy] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13
“Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:8-10
There are some painful things we face in life. If God is sovereign, and He is, He could keep us from hurt.
But sometimes, God allows our heart to get broken. Sometimes God allows a thorn in the flesh when we beg for it to be taken from us.
In Job’s case, he allowed him to lose his children, livestock, and health. Could God have prevented that? Yes, but he allowed it to happen.
And where was God when Job was crying out? For most of the book of Job, God is silent, not actively involved. Nowhere in Job’s suffering does he detect God’s presence. Have you experienced a season when God is silent? I think I’ve just begun that season. I honestly hate when God is silent. I want Him to be talking to me constantly. I want Him to tell me to go left or go right but I believe that season of silence deepen our walk with God.
I was thinking about silence between relationships. When I shared an apartment with my roommate there were days when we would be in the same room, but neither one of us spoke for hours. Occasionally I would be say, “Hey Rach, want coffee” or she would say, “I’m making lunch if you’re hungry”. However, for the majority of the day, we would be silent. We were with each other in the same room, but we didn’t need to talk and neither one of us were offended. We knew each other well enough that if we were silent it didn’t mean either one of us were angry or irritated. I could be silent and I wasn’t judged. I could just be.
Have you ever been around people where you feel like you cannot be silent and just think? You feel pressure to always say something or be in the thick of the conversation? I have and as an introvert it’s absolutely exhausting. But I realized in the time of silence maybe it is on me to be growing in the process or circumstance I am placed in. I want to know God better. Maybe He wants me to trust Him even when He is silent. Silence does not mean a person has changed. God doesn’t change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So, in the midst of the silence, I can remind myself that He is still worthy of my praise and worthy to be served!
Life comes with suffering. We will experience heart break. We will experience loss. We will experience death. We will endure hardship.
You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.
2 Timothy 2:3-4
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all
2 Corinthians 4:17
Moses led the Israelites but only after He suffered with God’s people!
David led a kingdom but only after he raised sheep and was on the run for the majority of his life from the hand of Saul.
John prepared the way for Jesus, but John lived in the desert and then was beheaded.
And Paul suffered with a thorn in the flesh and through beatings and imprisonments and rejection!
So instead of looking at this season of heartbreak, suffering and silence with dread, I’m praying that God will help me to see it as a season of growth. Also, I am trying to look at this season with a thankful heart. God has a purpose for pain, suffering and silence. God does not withhold good from those who walk uprightly (Psalm 86:11) so this, although painful, is for my good and for His glory.
