Times of silence don’t mean that nothing is happening. What may seem like waiting too long, isn’t, when God is working to set His perfect plan in place. If we could only see life from God’s perspective, we would realize that He is always at work.
That was the case during the 400 years between the Old and New Testaments. When Old Testament history came to a close, the time was not yet right for the Messiah’s coming. There was still more work to be done in the world before God fulfilled His promise.
During those 400 years God used Alexander the Great and the spread of the Greek culture to set in place a common language that would make it possible for the message of God and His Messiah to be passed from person to person around the world. He let the Roman Empire build roads that would be used by the early Christians on their missionary journeys as they took their message to the world. Religious oppression led the people to long for a true loving relationship with God – something beyond what humans could accomplish on their own through legalistic religious practices.
Yet while God was preparing the world during those years, He was silent. He wasn’t leading in a cloud or a pillar of fire. He wasn’t speaking from a burning bush. He didn’t send prophets with a message for His people.
So through the silence, God’s people waited. I’m sure some forgot about Him since they assumed He had forgotten about them. Some turned their walk with God into a religion… a list of do’s and don’ts that weighed the people down. But others waited patiently and prayed for the day when God would fulfill His promise to Abraham and send the Messiah to save them.
There are times in our lives when it feels as if God is silent. Times when we can’t see His hand in the circumstances of our lives. But He is still there. He still loves us more than we can comprehend. And He is still at work in the circumstances of our lives. And in His timing, He will reveal His plan and path for us. So when you are in one of those times, wait patiently and trust in all that you know to be true of our God. He is still at work in your life.
Lamentations 3:26-27
It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from GOD. It’s a good thing when you’re young to stick it out through the hard times.