As a deer

Good morning again. It is a wet day here, but the rain is much needed. I love to just sit and listen to the raindrops fall as they water the dry ground. It's a wonderful sound and soothing to the spirit.

Much like God's voice when he speaks to us in our quiet times. Getting alone to pray and seek his face really inspires the spirit, lifts the soul and sets the course of the day so much better than getting up grabbing a pop tart and bolting for the door.

What do we do though when God doesn't speak? When he doesn't answer? Or worse yet when he does, and gives us a response that we wished we had not received? Is God messing with us? NO! He is growing us. He is stretching us and challenging us to step into places and to do things that we normally would not go or do. The silence of God at times can be deafining.

Have you ever sat back and asked: "Why LORD are you not answering me?" "Why am I so troubled?" Many times we feel that way when God seems to be silent. We struggle with the lack of response and feel distanced from him. Yet, God is doing something in his silence. He is teaching us to walk with him even when he seems to be aloof to the goings on of life. Why? To teach trust and faith. It is not a divine game of "I shall mess with so and so because its fun." It is a test as it were to see if we really wish to have him or not. Will we press in? Will we persevere and continue to ask him even if he holds back his response?

Psalm 42 tells a story of at least one of the Sons of Korah. He seems to be going through a dry time, a time where God isn't talking to him. He is troubled in the deep part of his soul and wonders why. His feeling is that God has forgotten him. Don't we sometimes feel that way? For whatever reason, we get the sense that God has left us to walk alone.

Yet, he never does. He is always there, and is watching over us. I would encourage you as I have been encouraged, remember what he has done for you in the past. Recall his faithfulness and his steadfastness and hold tight to that in the times of silence.

"Give me strength LORD, to walk in your silence." Most times our greatest lessons are learned along that quiet road.