When God is silent...

[Slug1]

I was reading Jeremiah 13 tonight... actually I was led to read the chapter.

So, concerning verses 1-7... when we wonder why God has stopped giving us direction, tasks, guidance... basically He's become silent, do you think it can be because there is something He's already told us to do and we've not done it, so thus... no more from God and we are in silence?

What I means is... God gave Jeremiah specific guidance. Had he not done the first task of getting the linen sash and put it around his waist... would the "2nd" word (task) have come to Jeremiah?

Or would God be silent till the 1st task was completed?

So when we are ministered by God what to do, or the Holy Spirit prompts us to do something and we don't do it... then in time we realize God has been silent and no more promptings from the Holy Spirit... maybe we should go back to the LAST time He did minister to us or prompt us and "do it" so the silence can be broken???

Thoughts?

[MoreMercy]

Fits well, Slug1
I know I see examples of it no matter how short or far I look back at my own life too.
I don't have much comment other than that.


Father bless.

[Ta-An]

I was reading Jeremiah 13 tonight... actually I was led to read the chapter.

So, concerning verses 1-7... when we wonder why God has stopped giving us direction, tasks, guidance... basically He's become silent, do you think it can be because there is something He's already told us to do and we've not done it, so thus... no more from God and we are in silence?

What I means is... God gave Jeremiah specific guidance. Had he not done the first task of getting the linen sash and put it around his waist... would the "2nd" word (task) have come to Jeremiah?

Or would God be silent till the 1st task was completed?

So when we are ministered by God what to do, or the Holy Spirit prompts us to do something and we don't do it... then in time we realize God has been silent and no more promptings from the Holy Spirit... maybe we should go back to the LAST time He did minister to us or prompt us and "do it" so the silence can be broken???

Thoughts?

My pet answer to this is: What is the highest form of worship?? (Okay it is a question,,,but it fits )
* OBEDIENCE!! When you ask for guidance, and God instructs you ... or when He leads you to do something and you be disobedient.... then I believe He becomes 'silent'
** Also, when we move further away from Him, then we can't hear His voice so well anymore... my ears work better when my ears are close to His heart, for He speaks with a still small voice..... Yes, His voice also Thunders,,,,, but when a Father speaks to His child.. he does not shout...

[John 8:32]

I was reading Jeremiah 13 tonight... actually I was led to read the chapter.

So, concerning verses 1-7... when we wonder why God has stopped giving us direction, tasks, guidance... basically He's become silent, do you think it can be because there is something He's already told us to do and we've not done it, so thus... no more from God and we are in silence?

What I means is... God gave Jeremiah specific guidance. Had he not done the first task of getting the linen sash and put it around his waist... would the "2nd" word (task) have come to Jeremiah?

Or would God be silent till the 1st task was completed?

So when we are ministered by God what to do, or the Holy Spirit prompts us to do something and we don't do it... then in time we realize God has been silent and no more promptings from the Holy Spirit... maybe we should go back to the LAST time He did minister to us or prompt us and "do it" so the silence can be broken???

Thoughts?

Very astute observation. Why would God reveal more for us if we do not do what He has already revealed to us?

[Watchman]

If we have not obeyed what has been revealed, the next revelation is more than we can bear...we are not ready for it. The saints at Corinth are good examples of this. They were not loving each other, not reckoning themselves as dead to sin and alive to God, glorifying themselves via God's gifts, tolerating (even approving of) immorality, and not submitting to one another; consequently, they were mired in immaturity. Paul struck at the very heart of the problem in 1 Corinthians 13.

[shepherdsword]

I was reading Jeremiah 13 tonight... actually I was led to read the chapter.

So, concerning verses 1-7... when we wonder why God has stopped giving us direction, tasks, guidance... basically He's become silent, do you think it can be because there is something He's already told us to do and we've not done it, so thus... no more from God and we are in silence?

What I means is... God gave Jeremiah specific guidance. Had he not done the first task of getting the linen sash and put it around his waist... would the "2nd" word (task) have come to Jeremiah?

Or would God be silent till the 1st task was completed?

So when we are ministered by God what to do, or the Holy Spirit prompts us to do something and we don't do it... then in time we realize God has been silent and no more promptings from the Holy Spirit... maybe we should go back to the LAST time He did minister to us or prompt us and "do it" so the silence can be broken???

Thoughts?

I think that sometimes God is even silent when we have been obedient. He often leaves off to "test us and know all that is in our heart". How much more so when we have NOT been obedient? I think you are making a good point. Why should God waste his time speaking when we have yet to do the things he spoke to us the first time he spoke?

[Slug1]

Very interesting comments and thoughts so far. Gotta get some work done on this end (college related), so I'll be responding more later. Thanks!

[keck553]

I was reading Jeremiah 13 tonight... actually I was led to read the chapter.

So, concerning verses 1-7... when we wonder why God has stopped giving us direction, tasks, guidance... basically He's become silent, do you think it can be because there is something He's already told us to do and we've not done it, so thus... no more from God and we are in silence?

What I means is... God gave Jeremiah specific guidance. Had he not done the first task of getting the linen sash and put it around his waist... would the "2nd" word (task) have come to Jeremiah?

Or would God be silent till the 1st task was completed?

So when we are ministered by God what to do, or the Holy Spirit prompts us to do something and we don't do it... then in time we realize God has been silent and no more promptings from the Holy Spirit... maybe we should go back to the LAST time He did minister to us or prompt us and "do it" so the silence can be broken???

Thoughts?

God is not silent, ever. We have His Word, which is His ministry to us - and God does not go beyond His Word.

If we feel distant, it is becuase we have a misunderstanding of the matter, or we are depending on false teachings that lead us to unrealistic expectations.

The answer is prayer and meditation on His Word..

[Slug1]

God is not silent, ever. We have His Word, which is His ministry to us - and God does not go beyond His Word.

If we feel distant, it is becuase we have a misunderstanding of the matter, or we are depending on false teachings that lead us to unrealistic expectations.

The answer is prayer and meditation on His Word..

I agree with this 100% as well... thought though, while misunderstandings/false teachings do lead us to unrealistic expectations... for a person who isn't obedient in the basics as you mentioned, they don't pray daily and they don't read/study/meditate on the Word of God daily, wouldn't this be a form of what I raised in the OP?

As in... if all the guidance so far for a person is... pray and read and they don't do it daily, why wouldn't it seem when they DO pray once a month during a low period or when something wrong is happening, that all they hear from God is... NOTHING. He don't guide them, He don't help them, He don't do anything.

We know that this is a trial that is pushing them further and further into the storm for the simple reason, God is using this to GET THEM to be obedient in praying and reading daily.

So, when a person does pray daily and they do study daily but when God told them a month ago to say... the church requests a special offering so that a leaking roof in a brothers home can be fixed and the Holy Spirit prompts a person to offer $200. They don't do it and they are thus in disobedience... each time they seek God, they get that prompting to help the bother but other than that, NOTHING else in ministering, answers, guidance from God.

How long must this go on until a person relents and comes into obedience to God? Silence can be for a long time...

[keck553]

I agree with this 100% as well... thought though, while misunderstandings/false teachings do lead us to unrealistic expectations... for a person who isn't obedient in the basics as you mentioned, they don't pray daily and they don't read/study/meditate on the Word of God daily, wouldn't this be a form of what I raised in the OP?

I think the first thing someone should realize if they feel distant from God is that there is unconfessed sin in their life that is interferring with their prayer life. The conviction of sin by God's Spirit makes it difficult, if not impossible to enter the throne room with any amount of confidence. But how quickly does guilt and shame change to reverence and confidence when sin is confessed and repented of.

As in... if all the guidance so far for a person is... pray and read and they don't do it daily, why wouldn't it seem when they DO pray once a month during a low period or when something wrong is happening, that all they hear from God is... NOTHING. He don't guide them, He don't help them, He don't do anything.

If you talked to your wife only once a month, how would that relationship be?

We know that this is a trial that is pushing them further and further into the storm for the simple reason, God is using this to GET THEM to be obedient in praying and reading daily.

So, when a person does pray daily and they do study daily but when God told them a month ago to say... the church requests a special offering so that a leaking roof in a brothers home can be fixed and the Holy Spirit prompts a person to offer $200. They don't do it and they are thus in disobedience... each time they seek God, they get that prompting to help the bother but other than that, NOTHING else in ministering, answers, guidance from God.

I don't even want to guess about what goes on in a person's heart.

How long must this go on until a person relents and comes into obedience to God? Silence can be for a long time...

Not sure I agree it is in the character of God to initiate the 'silence.' I think chastisement comes in other forms than silence. Chastisement is an act of love; a silent treatement is an act of pride. I don't think God is silent at all with His children; IOW, perhaps our perception of "silence" from God is biased to our own thoughts, sense of shame, guilt, taught doctrines and experiences with other humans.

I read an article that contained this story -

"I spoke with two brothers who were inseparable but have fallen out over a financial dispute. I beseeched the older to apologize to his sibling so as to reawaken their filial love. "I simply cannot. He was wrong and he should apologize." "But that's not the point," I told him. "What is more important? To be right, or to have a brother? Here you have the opportunity to have your brother back. All it takes is a phone call. But you seem more interested in justice than family." He tried to lift the receive to call his brother. He could not. He was imprisoned by his own stubbornness."

I think the only way to freedom from the bondage imposed by our own pride is to humble ourselves. So I ask - what's more important, to have it our way, or to have it His Way?

[MoreMercy]

Yummy, good-things to be ate and healed by here on this thread.


God bless.

[Indueseason]

My pet answer to this is: What is the highest form of worship?? (Okay it is a question,,,but it fits )
* OBEDIENCE!! When you ask for guidance, and God instructs you ... or when He leads you to do something and you be disobedient.... then I believe He becomes 'silent'
** Also, when we move further away from Him, then we can't hear His voice so well anymore... my ears work better when my ears are close to His heart, for He speaks with a still small voice..... Yes, His voice also Thunders,,,,, but when a Father speaks to His child.. he does not shout...

When the Lord is not speaking, He's teaching us obedience or allowing us to grow in faith. Often it is a matter of obedience or our lack of attention. If we do not spend time with Him, how can He speak?(through His word or otherwise) If we haven't yielded to the last thing He said, maybe we should go back to that, before expecting Him to say more.

blessings to you

[Saved7]

I was reading Jeremiah 13 tonight... actually I was led to read the chapter.

So, concerning verses 1-7... when we wonder why God has stopped giving us direction, tasks, guidance... basically He's become silent, do you think it can be because there is something He's already told us to do and we've not done it, so thus... no more from God and we are in silence?

What I means is... God gave Jeremiah specific guidance. Had he not done the first task of getting the linen sash and put it around his waist... would the "2nd" word (task) have come to Jeremiah?

Or would God be silent till the 1st task was completed?

So when we are ministered by God what to do, or the Holy Spirit prompts us to do something and we don't do it... then in time we realize God has been silent and no more promptings from the Holy Spirit... maybe we should go back to the LAST time He did minister to us or prompt us and "do it" so the silence can be broken???

Thoughts?

I've thought about those things as well Slug. I wonder if it could be those things depending on whether or not you've done what you were told to do. I know Jesus told me to tell people that He is coming back soon, and hasn't had to repeat that message. HOwever, now I see he's teaching me so deeply about glorifying and submitting to him that I think this may....MAY be the message that is to go with it. Like John the Baptist had a simple message, "repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." But he often said more than that, and it was all tied to the original message of repent. Just what I am thinking, praying about that quite a bit in fact.

Another thought is I look at Abraham and see where God told him to do things, like "get up and get out of your country away from your family and I will show you". Abraham didn't have any specific direction to go in, but he obeyed and God lead him though he was unaware of it. It seems that whenever God had something new he wanted Abraham to do, He spoke clearly the direction He wanted him to go in. But until then, he was free to go whereever, not knowing that God was directing him anyway.

[Colight]

. the church requests a special offering so that a leaking roof in a brothers home can be fixed and the Holy Spirit prompts a person to offer $200. They don't do it and they are thus in disobedience... each time they seek God, they get that prompting to help the bother but other than that, NOTHING else in ministering, answers, guidance from God.

How long must this go on until a person relents and comes into obedience to God? Silence can be for a long time...

Not to go too astray..

Would that position conflict with the doctrine of free willed giving..

2 Corinthians 9:7
Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

The situation you layed out would cause giving under compulsion.
Could the situation you layed out be their own guilt or emotions prompting them, not the spirit?

The spirit only teaches when there is truth being taught..

If he is silent perhaps it would be time to go to bible class and around some truth.

[Watchman]

I am sick and freakin' tired of those who say the Holy Spirit no longer works...of those who muzzle Him...of those who quench Him...actually, of those whose behavior indicates that they do not need Him, since they have the scriptures. Apparently He is not needed amongst those who can read. Sheesh.

Watchman the fed up