Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
May 22, 2005 - W0521

Communicating has never been easier or more convenient. We are constantly in touch with one another through email, voicemail, cell phones, etc. We are constantly talking. Yet isn’t it ironic how in our noisy world, God is sometimes silent? I think that’s one of the scariest things in the world. And we sense David’s urgency when he said, “O God, do not remain quiet; do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.” (Ps. 83:1).

For most seasons in life, God’s voice is clear. His words are concise with instructions and directions. Yet, there are moments when God is quiet and we can’t hear Him. Now it doesn’t mean He’s not speaking. Yet if we are not careful we can make our biggest mistakes during those times. The question is why might God seem silent? There are several possibilities, but the first thing we should do is…

1.     CHECK YOUR HEART IN REGARDS TO UNRESOLVED SIN.

“If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Ps. 66:18).

We know that the wages of sin is death – a cutting off or a separation from. So when there is unresolved sin in our heart, it’s like the wires of communication with God are cut. Did He cut it? No it’s our sin that cuts us off from God.

That’s why we need trust and depend on Him daily whether or not we know what lies ahead. And God may seem silent is because He knows we haven’t developed the depth of character adequate enough for Him to reveal our future to us. Otherwise, our pride may take hold of us and we try to fulfill God’s plan in our own way. So actually God is quiet in order…

·        TO GUARD US FROM OURSELVES.

“The LORD said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?’” (Gen. 18:17-18). The Lord wanted Abraham to depend on Him day by day so He withheld what was about to happen in Abraham’s life. So during that time, Abraham developed the character to meet God’s promise.

The same is true for us. God will sometimes hide our future so that we learn to depend on Him daily whether we’re going through a valley of suffering or walking along the mountaintop of blessings. We just need to walk with Him and trust that God will sustain the promises He’s made for our lives.

Still, there are other times God is silent because He wants to test us. This next point is very important for each of us. This is where we need to really pay attention because a lot of times God is quiet because He wants…

·        TO CHECK OUR OBEDIANCE TO WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY HEARD.

He did this with Hezekiah. “…God left [Hezekiah] alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.” (2Chr. 32:31). There are times when God will speak to us about our lives, priorities, callings, relationships, or attitudes. And if we don’t lodge what He’s said in our hearts, we’ll come to a similar situation and be tested again. For example, we may ask God what to do about our marriage -- whether or not we should stay married. But when God doesn’t answer us, it’s because it should already be a principle or core value in our hearts. And if we constantly question our core values, we become vulnerable to being tempted. So one of the steps we can take toward spiritual maturity is to log what God has already spoken to us about in our hearts and so it becomes principles by which we live.

I was driving through Kahala one day and noticed fresh plantings of some sapling trees about 8 to 9 feet tall along the median. Each tree had 4 guide wires along the row of about twenty plants. They didn’t seem to need these wires since they securely planted. However, while passing by the following week, I noticed one of the wires on one plant snapped and because of some strong winds the night before, that tree was uprooted completely. Then when I passed by again a few days later, the tree had died because the tree hadn’t had a chance to develop strong roots. The trees were fine as long as there were no winds.

The same is true for us. Before our faith is solidified, we need guide wires in place to help us when storms hit and they will. We’ll be tested and challenged with family, finance, job, or health issues. So God places external accountability “guide wires” around us: friends, church, God’s Word in order to help us build strong and deep roots. Then once our roots are stronger God will begin to snip these wires so we won’t need constant supervision. Remember though that they’ll only be snipped when our roots are strong enough to withstand the storms without external guidelines. So make sure when you snip an external guide wire there is an internal, self-correcting mechanism of God’s instructions that have become inner principles. Otherwise you will be vulnerable to enemy attacks and inconsistent in your lifestyle.

So that which was instruction becomes internal values. “The Holy Spirit will bring back all the things that I have taught you.” (John 14:26). God wants us to remember His instructions and principles in times of testing because inevitably our faith will be tested, even if it’s a brand new faith.

“Do not harden your hearts, as…in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me. They tried Me though they had seen My work. For forty years I loathed that generation, and said they are a people who err in their heart, and they do not know My ways.” (Ps. 95:8-10).

In recapping this first point, when God seems silent be sure to check your heart of any unresolved sin and take care of it. He may also seem quiet in order to guard us from ourselves. That’s because if we know what lies ahead, we’ll tend to run ahead of Him to try and fulfill His plans for our lives on our own. And that’s why He’ll test our obedience to what we already heard. The next point that will help us in hearing God clearly is to...

2.     KNOW AND HEED GOD’S STANDING REVELATION.

Look at God’s instructions to Solomon: “Keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes…according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn.” (1Kin. 2:3).

“Those who obey My commandments are the ones who love Me. And because they love Me, My Father will love them, and I will love them. And I will reveal Myself to each one of them.” (John 14:21 NLT).

The revelations God gives to us in our past about our family, attitude, calling, and faith has already been taught. Just as in the past generations of David and Solomon: “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Heb. 13.8). They are our external guide wires. And as we learn about each one, we need to place them inside our hearts to become…

·        PRINCIPLES BY WHICH WE LIVE.

“Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” (Ps. 119:11).

Therefore, the instructions we receive from God is what sets the compass in our hearts to keep us strong even through the storms of life. A person who lives by God’s principles lives by a level of faith. And though they can’t hear God currently, they live by what God has already said.

I used to visit my dad when I was attending Bible College. And because I knew my dad’s ways, I always removed my shoes before I went in the house, I didn’t put my feet up on the coffee table, I had to eat before I left, and I talked about his photographs because he was a photographer. Now there are people who’d come over and failed to do all those things and I knew my dad was not pleased. But that’s because they didn’t know my dad’s ways.

And just as my dad’s mainland guests violated his ways, we too can violate God’s ways. So one of the ways that will help us to hear God more clearly is if we…

·        GET TO KNOW THE WAYS OF GOD.

 “For forty years I loathed that generation, and said they are a people who err in their heart, and they do not know My ways.” (Ps. 95:10). Do you know what that word, loathed means? It means to be nauseated. That means for a whole generation whenever God thought about them, He loathed them. Why? They erred in their hearts and did not take the time to get to know God.

So not only can we hear God from standing revelations and living by His principles, but also by getting to know Him. And the more we know His ways, the more we can be in His presence and not make the same mistakes. How does this happen?

·        THROUGH A GENUINE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

“For the perverse person is an abomination to the LORD, but His secret counsel is with the upright.” (Prov. 3:32 NKJ). In other words, when we have a sense of being upright with God, He will reveal things to us.

“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” (John 14:21).

One of the things some pilots suffer from is vertigo. It’s an inner ear problem that affects their balance and sense of direction. It often happens to acrobatic pilots who regularly flip their planes over and over again. Sometimes it causes vertigo and they get disoriented. There’s a story of one pilot who did a series of turns and flips and upon completing his routine began to return to land when fog set in over the runway. Then as he’s coming in for the landing, he’s suffered from vertigo and can’t distinguish which way is up. As he looks at his instruments, it reveals he’s flying nearly upside down. So he calls out over his radio saying his instruments are wrong. But the man in the control tower said, “Trust your instruments”. The pilot argues and insists the instruments are wrong. But the man in the tower told him to fly by what he knows is right not by how things seem at the moment. So that pilot corrected the plane according to what his instruments indicated and in minutes, his wheels touched the runway landing the plane safely.

Sometimes as Christians, God will tell us to fly by what we know is right. There will be times in our lives that we will be disoriented. Our emotions, desires, pride, or fears will pull us one way. And God will bring us to remembrance to what He’s already said. Then we will thank God that there were external guide wires which became internal principles by which we live by. And God will bring help us land safely and we will hear Him clearly by what He is saying and what He’s already said. Get to know the ways of God by cooperating with Him. We know the principles that please Him and we don’t need to be reminded time after time. Instead we need to log it in our hearts. Remember what He’s already spoken to us about. That’s why our daily devotion is critical. When something catches our attention, write it down and ask God to seal it in our hearts so that we will be different because of what we just read.

Discussion Questions

1.      Can you recall a season when God seemed silent? Are you hearing God now?

2.      Think about the things God has already spoken to you about. Have they become principles by which you live by? If not, what seems to be keeping that from happening?

3.      God speaks to us in many ways. In your daily devotions, can you recall one thing you have asked God to seal in your heart as a core value?

4.      External guidelines help us to withstand the storms of life. How are you developing or have developed strong roots?

5.      Like a pilot who depends on his instruments for a safe landing, we too need to depend on what we know to be God’s truth. Can you recall a time when you’ve listened to what you knew instead of what you felt? What was the result and how has it transformed the way you live your life?

6.      What impacted you most today, and how will you be a better person because of it?

Much thanks to Doreen Rabaino, our longtime volunteer writer – a woman who heeds God’s standing revelations and stores them as principles to live by within her heart!