If you have been a biblical Christian for any length of time, you have experienced stretches of time when God is silent.  You lift your voice to Him over and over and yet no response seems to be forthcoming.

Early in prayer, it is easy to believe God will hear, listen and respond.  But day after day, month after month, it becomes less easy to believe God will respond.  It becomes easier to be discouraged and to doubt what you know is true.

You pray for clarity, yet you are still uncertain.

You pray for peace, yet your heart is still anxious.

You pray for comfort, yet waves of grief roll over you.

You pray for wisdom, yet you continue to lack it.

You pray for healing, yet the person still suffers.

You pray for salvation, yet your family members remain unbelieving.

You pray for finances to cover expenses, yet your bills still remain unpaid.

In moments like these we fight for faith, fight to believe those things we believed at the first are still true in our waiting.

We are not alone. The Psalmists experienced similar silence:

Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? Psalm 10:1

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? Psalm 13:1-2

You have seen, O Lord; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me! Psalm 35:22

We may not know why God is being silent but rather than focusing on what we don’t know, faith grows as we focus on what we do know about God.

God loves and cares for us.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3:1

… casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

God sees us. 

The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man;
from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth.. Psalm 33:13-14

God is good.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Psalm 118:1

God hears and listens.

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;  the Lord hears when I call to him. Psalm 4:3

God is not ignoring us.  He has a plan and a purpose.

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. Psalm 138:8

God is at work in our lives in the midst of the circumstances. He is in the process of conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ and is likely using the circumstances to further our sanctification.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:29

Verses that we have heard all our lives that seem cliché are still true.

The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. Psalm 119:160

This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. 2 Samuel 22:31

Rather than wallow in what we don’t know we need to rehearse the truth we do know and cling to God’s promises in His Word.

I needed this reminder today.  Perhaps you did too.

Blessings,

Diane

Diane Hunt serves part-time on the staff of America’s Keswick providing ministry support from her home in North Carolina. She is also a biblical counselor and women’s event speaker. For more information about having Diane speak at your next event, please contact her at dhunt@americaskeswick.org

 

He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.  Proverbs 28:13

She doesn’t have a name, but the grace of the Lord was surely working in her heart.  Yes, she was nameless, but full of faith.  The account is found in Luke 7:36-39.

Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him that she is a sinner.’”

Jesus was invited over to a Pharisee’s house for a meal.  Now we very well know there was tension and hostility throughout Jesus’ ministry between the Pharisees and Jesus.  They were skeptical of Him.  They looked for opportunities to trap Him and diminish His influence.  Their hospitality was not out of love and acceptance.  His host had mixed motives.

We switch focus to an unlikely guest who arrives on the scene.  She is referred to as a “sinner” which means those in attendance were well informed of her promiscuous life.  These people were not the least bit welcoming.  They were, in fact, the people condemning and ostracizing her, but that didn’t stop her from showing up. After all, Jesus, the Friend of sinners, was present.

At this point in the story, there is no dialogue that is recorded between Jesus and the woman.  However, her actions speak volumes.   She has acknowledged her sins and placed herself at the feet of Jesus.  It is there, at that exact place, where we as Christians must continually find ourselves.  We can come to Him a mess and broken and be assured that He can restore, heal, and make us whole.

Her regret over her sin is clearly put on display with her intense crying.   She kisses Jesus’ feet and anoints them with perfume (Luke 7:38) which expresses her immense gratitude and belief in the forgiveness Jesus offered her.  This beautiful image of repentance is so moving and inspirational.   Now, there are many reasons that could have prevented her from attending.  Instead, she displayed such courage and humility to go in spite of such wide rejection.  Just like  us, pride can keep us from confessing our sin.  It is when we take an honest look at our heart and agree with God of its ugliness that we can receive God’s grace to change it.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.”  Luke 7:39

Jesus came for this very purpose.  It was His main goal.  He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Thank God for His love, kindness, and mercy that despite our rebellion against Him, He would send His Son to pay our sin debt through His death on the cross and give us new life through His resurrection.

May we frequently visit the feet of Jesus.

Michelle

Michelle Kenney serves in the Guest Services Department.  She has the privilege of working alongside her wonderful husband Mr. Robert Kenney.  She loves being a wife and makes it her mission to encourage her brothers and sisters in Christ every day.

The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted. (Proverbs 29:25, NASB)

Have you ever been encouraged to obey God and let the chips fall where they may? Easier said than done, right? King David’s instructive response in 1 Samuel 30 serves us well on this point: He encouraged himself in the Lord while facing distressing circumstances, widespread disapproval, and imminent, threatened demise at the hand of his countrymen when the Amalekites made living captives of the Israelites’ wives and children. Note that in verse 6 he encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord prior to obtaining God’s promise of full, assured victory in verse 8. David knew his God!

After seeking God’s direction, obtaining God’s assurance of complete success, and receiving marching orders to pursue the captors in order to retrieve the captives, David sprung to obedient action. The result? Mission accomplished. At the end “nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all” (1 Samuel 30:19). His example stands in stark contrast to King Saul whose life tragically and ironically ends in the very next chapter.

According to Proverbs 29:25 one is either scared and ensnared or assured and secured. (The word “exalted” is interestingly translated “safe” in some versions.) King Saul, who feared the people more than God and obeyed them in direct violation of the Lord’s command (1 Samuel 15:24), not only subsequently lost his kingship but disturbingly ended his own life. On the other hand, the prophet Samuel reverentially feared God throughout his lifetime: not just episodically in confronting Saul (1 Samuel 15), but he “ministered before the Lord, even as a child [emphasis added]” (1 Samuel 2:18), and “grew in stature and in favor both with the Lord and men [emphasis added]” (vs. 26).

So, which camp are you in? Or do you find yourself vacillating between the two based on who you’re with and what you’re facing?  We might denounce situational ethics in one breath yet succumb to them with the next.

If we’re honest we’ll admit that we all struggle with this to varying degrees.  But as we progressively know our God, we will increasingly live unto Him while reaping similar blessings. And since those who honor God are honored by Him (1 Samuel 2: 30) as the examples of David and Samuel show us, the elusive approval of man that people-pleasers unsuccessfully chase is often tossed in God’s hodgepodge reward for those who fear Him. And when it isn’t, God-pleasers are fine just the same knowing that although the chips might not fall where they would prefer them to, the boundary lines surely and eventually will (Psalm 16:6).

Melissa Smith is the Women’s Enrich Counselor at America’s Keswick. She has the privilege and honor of ministering to the colony men’s wives and girlfriends, the Barbara’s Place women, and some women from the community who God brings to America’s Keswick for help or care. She and Bill, her husband of 18 years, have four adopted children ages 17 to 24. Her fervent desire is to point women to Christ and His sufficiency, provision, and promises.

 

 

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! Romans 11:33