Why So Silent, God?
Destroying the Lie that “Silence” Indicates God’s Absence
“Why has God been so silent? Where is God when I need Him? Why did He suddenly just seem to leave me?” Do these questions sound familiar?
These questions often echo in the hearts of those experiencing spiritual dryness. We may wonder if we’ve done something wrong or if God was ever truly close to us. In these moments, it’s easy to feel blindsided, as we often fail to recognize these dry seasons for what they truly are—opportunities for growth.
Take a lesson from the Israelites, who wandered through the desert. It was during the silence, not the miraculous events, that their faith wavered. When faced with uncertainty and a lack of visible signs of God’s presence, they struggled to trust in His goodness. The Israelites could not withstand the dry seasons!
In our own lives, dry seasons may arise for various reasons—trials, spiritual testing, or even as a result of our own choices. However, how we navigate these periods can significantly influence our spiritual growth!
Periods of spiritual dryness are designed to grow our faith
I remember the words my father spoke to me one day when I asked him why the grass in his lawn was vibrant and green even through a drought which left most of the lawns in the city brown and crisp. He shared that he intentionally watered his grass only periodically, encouraging the roots to grow deep. If watered daily, the grass roots remain shallow, unable to reach the deeper water sources beneath the surface. In times of drought, only the grass with deep roots can survive, drawing moisture from the earth when it’s needed most. Thus, if a person wants their grass to be able to withstand a dry season, they must withhold water at times to encourage the roots to grow deep.
The same is true of our own faith! During the seasons of abundance when we vividly feel God’s presence, understand His truth, and experience His victories – our faith is being strengthened. However, just as the grass must endure dry periods for its roots to grow deeper, our faith must also be tested.
The process by which our faith grows deep will vary by person, but it may involve walking through a “spiritual dessert” where we are tested and must choose to believe what we know and not what we feel. This is exactly what happened to Jesus after He was baptized and heard the words of His Father over His life, identifying Him as the beloved Son of God. Jesus was led into the wilderness to enter a season of dryness where He would have to choose to stand on what He knew to be true. This is the blueprint for true growth in the life of every believer. Seasons of victories where we walk with the Lord and sense His presence in a strong way are punctuated by dry seasons where our victories and faith must take root.
Every time we stand on what we have learned, the roots of our faith grow deeper and more resilient. This crucial step in our growth is something we should come to expect!
However, holding firm to our faith during dessert times will be extremely difficult when we have been courting both God’s truth and a lie about Him in our minds simultaneously.
Spiritual lies weaken our faith during seasons of dryness
When we have been believing the lie that God’s love for us depends on how “good” we are, it can lead us to feel like He’s distant or disappointed in us whenever things go quiet. It’s that feeling we get sometimes when a friend goes silent, and we start wondering if we did something wrong!
Spiritual lies can first gain entrance into our minds as simple thoughts. These thoughts invite us to agree with a specific interpretation of ourselves, others, or a given situation. Our agreement with these thoughts/lies then gives them power in our minds to influence us and affect our beliefs and actions. Over time, these lies can settle in deep, affecting us without us even realizing it.
Once established in our minds, these lies erect themselves up against the truth of God and hinder us from fully receiving the truth that brings transformation.
For this reason, 2 Corinthians 2:10 tells us: We tear down arguments and every presumption that sets itself up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
These lies don’t just go away—they’ll keep trying to creep back in and choke out the faith we’ve built. But recognizing them is the first step to pushing back and living in the freedom of God’s unconditional love.
Signs that we are entertaining lies
When a spiritual lie is established in our mind, it will always produce certain symptoms in our life that will signal its presence. We can look for some of these symptoms to determine if we have been entertaining one or more of the enemy’s lies.
- We work hard to hear from the Lord or believe that His love is based on the amount of time we spend with Him
- We feel distant from Him if we don’t religiously stick to our schedule of quiet time with Him
- We often seek signs or words from others that the Lord is pleased with us
- We automatically assume we did something wrong whenever we go through trials or spiritual warfare
- We believe God speaks to us because we deserve to hear from Him
- We have difficulty truly believing that God loves us without conditions
- We have difficulty loving ourselves as the child of God that we are
- We experience strong fear in other areas of our life
- We are uncomfortable with the thought of not being in control of our future
At some point, we have all struggled with the specific lie that God’s love is conditional and have shown some (or all) of these spiritual symptoms! When we notice these symptoms in our life, it’s an indication that we need to uproot a spiritual lie so that our faith can grow deep!
Below are three helpful steps we can take demolish the lie that is preventing us from resting in God’s faithfulness during the times we are in the spiritual desserts.
Demolish the Lie that God’s Absence Indicates His Displeasure
Step 1: We must identify the lie and replace it with God’s truth
If we suspect that we have been believing a lie in our mind, we should invite the Holy Spirit to help us locate the source and root of the lie, as well as any ways we may be in disobedience. Do we feel unworthy of God’s love? If so, why? When did we start to believe that God’s love could fail us? We should allow the Holy Spirit to bring things up in our minds to reestablish our beliefs in truth.
Note that introspection without the Holy Spirit can be a dangerous mental practice as it can trap us in repetitive negative thought loops, so we should avoid ruminating or second-guessing ourselves if the answer isn’t obvious to us. God is faithful and if we ask Him to reveal any lies or sins hidden in our heart, He will bring things up in our minds over the next several days and weeks so that He can help us through them.
Once we identify the area of our mind under enemy influence, we should repent and ask the Lord to reveal His truth to us so that we can evict and replace the lie. This truth comes mainly from scripture, but often the Lord will also remind us of certain events and experiences that also reveal the truth to us.
We should grab onto this truth and use it to break the power of the enemy over us by refuting his lie! It’s really that simple! James 4:7 tells us “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” We must decide to agree with God’s truth and keep it close for when that lie attempts to come back.
Step 2: We must remember God’s goodness in our life
We want to avoid the tendency of having only selective memory when it comes to God’s goodness in our lives. God has called us to remember His goodness and kindness always as we were created to bring Him glory through our worship and adoration.
In the Bible, David knew this all too well and repeatedly wrote in Psalm about recalling the goodness of the Lord. “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds” Psalm 9:1. This is also an effective way to continually stay in the peace of God which will guard against enemy lies!
One helpful tip for remembering the Lord’s testimonies is to regularly revisit journal entries! For those who like to journal, we should set time aside regularly to read the testimonies of what God has done in our lives and how He has been speaking to us! For non-journalers, this can be accomplished by mentally or verbally recalling God’s goodness in our lives. Remembering His testimonies is crucial if we want to stand firm in the knowledge of God’s faithfulness.
This can also help break us out of any “spiritual boredom” that may be adding to our feelings of dryness. Remembering God’s goodness in our life is a great way to ensure His truth stays an exciting reality for us!
Step 3: We must align our hearts with truth
A powerful way to align ourselves with the words and promises of God is by praying His very words back to Him! We can find scriptures in the Bible that assure us of God’s unfailing love and faithfulness and pray those out loud. For example, “Lord, thank you that your love will never fail me, that you will never leave me or forsake me, and that you are with me until the end of time, even when I don’t feel you! I believe you and know that you have my good plans in mind for me!” (See Deuteronomy 31:8; Matthew 28:20; Jeremiah 29:11).
If we are struggling to keep the lies of the enemy out of our minds, finding verses that directly contradict these lies and keeping them on hand can help. Whenever we are tempted to agree with any lying thoughts, we can pull from those verses and speak the truth in our minds to refute those lies!
Over time, if we choose to stand on what we know and not on what we feel, we will find that our faith grows during dry seasons because we are firmly planted in truth and can develop deep roots of perseverance instead of shallow reliance on circumstances.
This is drought-proof faith that can withstand any dry times!
Hi! I’m Bebe!
I’m dedicated to helping believers walk in the freedom that comes from renewing their minds in partnership with God. With a background in psychology and a deep love for scripture, I help bridge the gap between spiritual growth and practical mental health strategies. Check out our podcast, videos, and other resources and join me on this journey as we explore how to truly unlock the peace of God in our lives!
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