This was the devotion that I ended
up reading today. To be honest it seems God has been kind of silent on things
as of late, so when I read the following it ministered to my heart so much. I
felt the need to share it, so hopefully you get as much out of this as I did.
From ‘Streams in the Desert’ by
L.E. Cowman:
Jesus did not answer a word. (Matthew 15:23)
He will quiet you with his love. (Zephaniah 3:17)
Are
you reading these verses as a child of God who is experiencing a crushing
sorrow, a bitter disappointment, or a heartbreaking blow from a totally
unexpected place? Are you longing to hear your Master’s voice calling you,
saying, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be
afraid” (Matt 14:27)? Yet only silence, the unknown, and misery confront you-
“Jesus did not answer a word.”
God’s
tender heart must often ache listening to our sad, complaining cries. Our weak,
impatient hearts cry out because we fail to see through our tear-blinded
shortsighted eyes that it is for our own sakes that He does not answer at all
or that He answers in a way we believe is less than the best. In fact, the
silences of Jesus are as eloquent as His words and may be a sign not of His
disapproval but of His approval and His way of providing a deeper blessing for
you.
“Why are you so downcast oh my
soul? …I will yet praise him” (Ps. 43:5). Yes, praise Him even for His silence.
Let me relate a beautiful old story of how one Christian dreamed she saw three
other women in prayer.
When they knelt the Master drew
near to them. As He approached the first of the three, He bent over her with
tenderness and grace. He smiled with radiant love and spoke to her in tones of
pure, sweet music. Upon leaving her, He came to the next but only placed His
hand upon her bowed head and gave her one look of loving approval. He passed
the third woman almost abruptly, without stopping for a word or a glance.
The woman having the dream said
to herself, “How greatly He must love the first woman. The second gained His
approval but did not experience the special demonstrations of love He gave the
first. But the third woman must have grieved Him deeply, for He gave her no
word at all, nor even a passing look.”
She wondered what the third
woman must have done to have been treated so differently. As she tried to account
for the actions of her Lord, He Himself came and stood beside her. He said to
her, “O woman! How wrongly you have interpreted Me! The first kneeling woman
needs the full measure of My tenderness and care to keep her feet on My narrow
way. She needs My love, thoughts, and help every moment of the day, for without
them she would stumble into failure.
“The second woman has stronger
faith and deeper love than the first, and I can count on her to trust Me no
matter how things may go or whatever people may do. Yet the third woman, whom I
seemed not to notice, and even to neglect, has faith and love of the purest
quality. I am training her through quick and drastic ways for the highest and
holiest service.
“She knows Me so intimately, and
trusts Me so completely, that she no longer depends on My voice, loving
glances, or other outward signs to know My approval. She is not dismayed or
discouraged by any circumstances I arrange for her to encounter. She trusts Me
when common sense, reason, and even every subtle instinct of the natural heart
would rebel, knowing that I am preparing her for eternity, and realizing that
the understanding of what I do will come later.
“My love is silent because I
love beyond the power of words to express it and beyond the understanding of
the human heart. Also, it is silent for your sakes- that you may learn to love
and trust Me with pure, Spirit-taught, spontaneous responses. I desire for your
response to My love to be without the prompting of anything external.”
He “will do wonders never before
done” (Ex. 34:10) if you will learn the mystery of His silence and praise Him
every time He withdraws His gifts from you. Through this you will better know
and love the Giver.
