You have done everything you believed the Holy Spirit guided you to do. You have served the Lord faithfully with your gifts and talents. You had great visions and dreams about what God wanted to accomplish through you. But nothing has worked out the way you hoped and now you stand looking at a sign—Dead End. Worse, God is silent so you begin looking for a way to fulfill your dreams only to find yourself wandering in a great wilderness. Not only is He silent, any manifestation of the Lord has become only a distant memory. You might even begin singing the 60’s song by Simon & Garfunkel, The Sound of Silence; Silence like a cancer grows; And the vision that was planted in my brain; Still remains within the sound of silence.
Some of you are standing in this exact spot. The typical response, people begin second-guessing themselves. “Did I hear God right? Maybe it was just my desire. Did I miss God’s direction? I’ve wasted all these years.” You abandon your hope and surrender to the devil’s lie that you blew it. The good news for you is that you are not alone. Faithful believers throughout the Bible have found themselves in this wilderness asking, what they did wrong. Their examples can provide direction and hope when we encounter these times.
Elijah . . . a man just like us (Jam 5:17 NIV) was one of them. He was faithful to all the work the Lord commanded him to do. Most tasks were difficult and dangerous. God brought him to the forefront under the rule of the wicked King and Queen, Ahab and Jezebel; they brought Israel to its lowest point of evil. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him (1 Kings 16:33). Elijah experienced God working through him. He prayed and it didn’t rain for three and a half years. God provided Elijah food by a drying brook through ravens; at the widow’s house, God multiplied her oil and flour. Her son died but came to life through Elijah’s prayer; fire fell and consumed the altar when Elijah challenged 450 prophets of Baal. He prayed and the rain came.
Yet, when Jezebel threatened to kill him, something happened within Elijah. It seems he reached his Dead End. He became afraid and ran for his life. We know he thought he was the only prophet left. Even after the great miracles he witnessed God performed through him—he gave up. It appears he thought he had failed and any hope of turning Israel from their wickedness and idolatry was gone. His dreams were dead and he prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said “Take my life” (1 King 19:4). However, the Lord was not through with this discouraged prophet. Elijah headed toward Mt. Horeb, in the same mountain range where Moses received the Law. After 40 days, he arrived and went into a cave to sleep. God broke His silence and asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” His answer shows he was having a real pity-party. He was a prophet accustomed to seeing mighty manifestations of God—fire falling from heaven, miraculous provisions of food, and raising the dead. Now, the Lord would show Elijah another way He worked.
God sent a mighty and great wind, He sent an earthquake, and a fire, but Elijah realized God was not in these manifestations. But then God manifest Himself in what KJV translates a still small voice. Other versions translate this word, a gentle whisper, a gentle blowing, a soft breath, and sheer silence. Elijah immediately recognized this was the Lord God and wrapped his head in his mantle. God was showing him that His work was not always fiery, or windy, or earth shaking. God also worked in gentle, soft, and even silent ways. God sent Elijah back to continue his appointed work by anointing Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha who would continue God’s work.
As a young man, God gave Joseph a dream about his life, but then he lived in silence for 13 years before God fulfilled of his dream. Israel endured 400 years of silence without a single manifestation of the Lord between the Old and New Testaments. Yet, in both the examples God was quietly working unseen and in silence. At the right time, He put Joseph in the position to save Egypt and his own people from a great famine. During the 400 silent years, God used Alexander the Great for preparing the world for the coming of Christ at the appointed time. When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law (Gal 4:4).
Silence never indicates the Lord’s absence of action. If you had done something wrong, God would have convicted your heart. If you strayed into the wrong direction, He would have redirected you. If He had changed His mind about your dreams, He would have told you. Remember two promises, the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable (Rom 11: 29) and He is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us (Eph 3:20).
Sustaining Word for the Week: Don’t back away from your dreams and hopes. The Lord has been quietly preparing the way for you.