Silence is God’s invitation to believe his promises are still true even when your reality says otherwise.
Imagine being stuck in a season where God feels silent.
You wake up longing for a miracle, a word, or a sign; anything to show he is still near. The days keep passing, but it still feels like you’re walking in the dark. You pray for faith. You trust his purpose. But silence is all you get. And you start to wonder…
Why does God feel so distant? If I am praying for answers and crying out in faith, why is he still silent?
These are some of the questions I wrestled with during my own season of spiritual silence. Deep down, I knew God would bring clarity, but his silence felt unbearable.
One morning, I listened to his Word with a heavy heart, and something shifted. It clicked: God’s silence wasn’t his absence. It was part of his redemption. Could it be that silence is God’s message itself?
By meditating on stories of silence in the Bible and Jesus’s moments before his crucifixion, the Lord reminded me what his silence can accomplish.
Key notes
- The Lord doesn’t delight in your pain, and he’s not expecting you to figure out his plans. Instead of taking away the discomfort, he sits with you in it, holding you in the dark.
- God may seem silent for now, but he is always working, speaking, and drawing you closer to him. Silence is never the end.
- The silence of Christ made my salvation possible. Jesus could have saved himself. He could have spoken before Pilate and the crowd who wanted him crucified. He had the power to descend from the cross and punish his enemies. However, Jesus stayed silent so that I could be set free.
Silence Is God’s Invitation to Trust When It Hurts Most.
Before we even address how to believe when God seems silent, let’s first confess how frustrating his detours can be. The Lord often sends us to places we don’t want to go, puts us in seasons we dread, and rarely answers the way we expect.
David experienced this frustration firsthand by writing one of the most honest prayers in the Psalms. His prayer begins with:
“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?.”
(Ps. 13:1)
Psalm 13 reminds us that as confusing as God’s ways are, it is not our job to figure them out. David’s prayers usually start with a cry of despair and end with a confession of faith.
“But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord
because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
(Ps. 13:5-6)
The Lord doesn’t delight in your pain, and he’s not expecting you to figure out his plans. Instead of taking away the discomfort, he sits with you in it, holding you in the dark. His quietness is an opportunity to trust and praise him.
Silence Is God’s Way of Revealing a Greater Glory- Even When It Doesn’t Feel Like It.
While God´s silence often translates to abandonment, quiet seasons are God’s own way of producing faith in us and fulfilling his promises.
The story of Mary and Martha in John 11 is a powerful example of witnessing God’s glory through silence.
These sisters loved Jesus. Scripture even reminds us that Mary was the one who anointed the Lord and wiped his feet not long ago (11:2). They sent word to Jesus. They believed he would come. But when he finally arrived, their brother was already gone.
They had seen Jesus perform miracles before, but this time felt different. It was too late for him to fix the situation… or so they thought.
Jesus delays. Spiritual silence can be cruel and confusing.
Imagine you have an emergency and call a dear friend for help. Your friend says “Sure, I will be there” and then decides to show up two days after your call.
In the story, Jesus delays. For two days he remained silent (11:6) and allowed Mary and Martha to grieve and bury their brother. By the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus has been dead for four days (11:39). He purposely waits until it becomes naturally impossible to bring Lazarus back.
When Jesus arrives to meet the sisters, both confront him by saying: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (11:21, 32). Mary didn´t even want to see Jesus (11:20). After all, it was all lost. Why would he bother to come?
Like Mary and Martha, you may have also said, “Lord, if you had answered at this time…” Maybe you’ve watched a dream die while God stayed quiet. What kind of God is this? What could possibly justify his silence?
If you don’t understand why your prayer hasn’t been answered, just remember that our God, knowing the future and discerning what is best for you, still welcomes your honest questions and emotions. He doesn’t disregard the suffering of his children.
Jesus weeps. Spiritual silence reveals God’s compassion in our pain.
God’s silence is not a punishment. It is an opportunity to show you his redemption plan and your time to believe he is for you.
While God’s silence may bring pain, he does not see your pain from the distance but enters it and engages with it. When Jesus saw Mary weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled (11:33). He wept too (11:35).
Jesus wasn’t just sad for Mary and Martha. He was angry at pain and death. Seeing what sin and disbelief do to his creation troubles Jesus. Jesus’s weeping reveals his full humanity and compassion towards us.
While it seemed that Jesus didn’t care much about Mary and Martha’s suffering, he gave them a promise. Lazarus’s illness would not lead to death. It would be for the glory of God (11:4).
Today, God’s promises in Jesus Christ are for us. Your pain will not lead to death but will produce faith and show you God’s higher purpose.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Spiritual silence is never the end.
Jesus reveals his purpose by telling Martha that her brother will rise again.
Martha believes she will see her brother in the resurrection on the last day (11:23-24). While this is true, it is only the beginning of what Jesus wants to show them.
Pain and death will not be in vain. Jesus is the resurrection and the life incarnated. His purpose will finally be revealed so that everyone may believe. This is what Martha, Mary, and the crowd cannot see.
Their brother Lazarus will rise on that very day because Jesus declares it. His promises are fulfilled right here and right now. Jesus was never in a rush to heal Lazarus because his silence would accomplish the unimaginable.
God doesn’t just give you a quick way out to escape your suffering. He sits with you in the pain, declares your inability to save yourself, and brings you from death to life in him.
He isn’t interested in showing up on time or giving you exactly what you want. Instead, in our frustration he is calling you to confess that he is “the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world” (11:27). God may seem silent for now, but he is always working, speaking, and drawing you closer to him. Silence is never the end.
Silence Is God’s Greatest Act of Love.
During my season of spiritual silence, I questioned God’s presence with me and wondered if he could truly see me. In my frustration, the Lord taught me that silence is his greatest act of love.
The silence of Christ made my salvation possible. Jesus could have saved himself. He could have spoken before Pilate and the crowd who wanted him crucified. He had the power to descend from the cross and punish his enemies. However, Jesus stayed silent so that I could be set free. Silence was always the plan.
- Jesus remained silent before Caiaphas and the Council. Some spit in his face struck him and slapped him (Matt. 26:67).
- Jesus didn’t defend himself before Pilate. Despite the accusations against him, he did not answer (Matt. 27:11-14).
- Jesus was mocked by Roman soldiers. He silently took the shame and did not resist (Matt. 27:27-31).
- People who passed by would say: “Save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matt. 27:40).
- Jesus was truly abandoned by God the Father. With a loud voice, Jesus said “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46).
Meditating on Jesus’s suffering through silence gave me the faith to believe that he is with me even if he seems silent or distant.
Knowing that Jesus took the Father’s wrath on my behalf gave my silence a whole different meaning. Jesus was willing to be abandoned by God so that God would never abandon me. This gives me the strength to believe in his promises.
Nobody understands the cruelty of silence better than Jesus.
But what is even more powerful is to remember that silence wasn’t the end of the story. What seemed like three days of silence and lament were three days of preparation for eternal salvation and life in Jesus Christ.
His resurrection is the loudest sound of victory on our behalf.
5 Bible Passages for When God Feels Silent.
Silence is God’s invitation for you to believe and rest in his promises. He will fulfill what he has spoken, not always in the way we expect, but in the way he knows is best.
Waiting in the dark can feel frustrating and lonely. But don’t stop seeking him. Keep coming to his presence, even when you don’t feel anything and your reality doesn’t add up.
You’re not walking through this in your own strength. The Holy Spirit is at work, growing in you the faith you need to continue. Through God’s Word, we can find rest and assurance that he is not silent.
1. God’s silence invites us to trust not stress but even in our unbelief, he is still gracious and merciful.
“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
‘In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and trust shall be your strength.’”
(Isaiah. 30:15)
2. When we hear nothing, we can still rest in the truth that salvation is secure and God is near.
“For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”
(Psalms. 62:1-2)
3. Silence is the space where faith is produced and endurance is shaped.
“The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.”
(Lamentations. 3:25-26)
4. Waiting in silence isn’t wasted. Your suffering cannot be compared to the greater glory God will reveal.
“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
(Romans. 8:24-25)
5. God often speaks in subtle ways and quiet moments, not always through noise and signs.
“And he said, ‘Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’”
(1 Kings. 19:11-13)
My Prayer For You
“Dear Father, I pray for the woman who does not see or hear you. You have been silent and hidden from her but you know her heart is heavy. Lord be merciful and gracious to the woman who has been waiting for an answer. In the silence comfort her and remind her that you are more present than ever. Open her ears to your Word and give her the faith she needs to wait patiently. Remind her that you hold her future in your hands and that you will answer in your timing. Thank you for your Son Jesus and for giving us salvation through his silence. In your name I pray. Amen.”
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