Overcome Painful Questions Reading More Of God's Word

Sometimes women feel God’s presence. Other times, it seems like God has completely disappeared from our lives. We can often feel anxiety, sadness, or mistrust of God in these times.

The Questions that Haunt the Hurting

During unspeakable loss and horrific evil, many women doubt where God is. Heartache forces us to confront the ugly questions we otherwise would not ask. Some questions haunt us deep into the wee hours of the morning.

We ask things like this:

• Do You worry about what happens to me?
• Does my pain matter to You?
• If You are good, why does life hurt so much?
• Why did You not stop this?
• Why will You not take this away?

Why Is God Quiet?

In response to these types of questions that threaten to rip at your soul, it seems as if God is quiet. Insult to injury. Abandonment in the face of most profound sorrow. Why is God quiet?

Prayer warrior, and the man after God’s own heart, David wrestled with similar questions during his lifetime. In Psalm 13:1-2, while taking cover in a cave, he wrote, “¹How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? ² How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?” David was harassed by the wicked, which was a frequent occurrence in his life.

The truth is it is common to wonder where God is during a crisis. It does not imply that your faith is inadequate or that God has left you.

Think about a toddler who falls on the ground before his father. The first thing he does is see if his father saw this fall. He wants to know if his father sees his pain and if it triggers him to do something.

In these moments, the father goes to calm his beloved child. He lifts the boy and holds him close.

The loving father does not explain the child’s pain—knowing that his boy is still too small to grasp it. He does not prescribe the child’s discomfort—knowing that wise words will not stem the bleeding.

Instead, he offers something far more tender and reassuring. He provides something only a father could give. He gives the gift of His presence, and in doing so, He murmurs the exact words again and again, “Daddy’s here. Daddy’s here.”

What Should You do When God is Quiet?

However prolonged the quiet seems, God promises it is temporary. Just because you cannot hear God does not mean He is not there. A blind or deaf daughter may not see her father or hear his voice but can sense his love. The blood-bought promise states that this brief life will be followed with an eternity in which His children will see His face.

When God is silent, open His Word, and be reminded that He has spoken clearly, perfectly, sufficiently, and truthfully. God speaks to us powerfully through his word. It has promises that speak to our pain and remind us that God is always faithful, always good, always at work.

Remember God’s past blessings and faithfulness. Live at this moment on what He has already told you in the past. Trust God and wait. You will hear the voice of God.