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Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg
When God Seems Silent
When God Seems Silent: “Do You Still Trust Me?”
Through our series together we have addressed things like listening to God, avoiding sin, and waiting on God. Though these topics have all been distinct, they also carry a common theme: trust.
If you trust that God speaks you will actively listen.
If you trust that God desires intimacy with you, you won’t hold onto sins that He is asking you to let go of.
If you trust God has a plan, and His timing is perfect, you will wait on Him with confidence.
If we remove trust from any of these, God may very well seem silent to us.
Matthew 27:45-46
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
What does Jesus do in the darkest moment of His life?
He cries out to the Father. But He’s not just saying whatever comes to mind, He’s quoting Scripture. He’s quoting Psalm 22.
Psalms 22:1-5
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
If verses 1-2 present the problem – God, where are you?
Then verses 3-5 propose a solution: trust.Of all the things that Jesus could say at His darkest hour and of all the places to which He could point us, Jesus points us to trust.
When God seems silent, will you trust Him anyways?
If trust is a choice, then we must acknowledge the doubts that we can often face:
1. God doesn’t care
2. God is a liar3. God has abandoned me
Trusting God does not mean ignoring the feelings of doubt.
In Psalm 22, David acknowledges the doubt (“why have you forsaken me?”) but ultimately chooses trust (“in you they trusted and were not put to shame”).
Bottom Line:
Doubting and trusting are both choices. Which one is yours?
Verses for further study/reflection:
Matthew 27:46
Proverbs 3:5
Psalm 37:4-6
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Isaiah 26:3
Psalm 9:10