“I’ve never heard him speak to me or felt his love for me.”
Unfortunate words! And I’ve heard them a lot over the years, the frustrated feeling one has when they feel that God is silent. David expresses that pain well in the Psalms, saying he would be as one going down to the pit if God remained silent.
Sadder still are the conclusions people reach about themselves and God from this observation.
- He isn’t really there.
- If he is, he doesn’t care about me.
- He doesn’t talk to people like me.
- Obviously, I’m not good enough to hear him.
- I’m not worthy of his love.
Of course, all of those are untrue, no matter how much our perception may argue. All of us have considered those things at some point, but when we can find some humility to reconsider our conclusions, admit to God that we cannot do this without him, and shed our expectations about what God should do, only then will our discernment of that voice grow. We get a glimpse here, a thought there, and begin to discover that…
