When God Seems Silent

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. (John 11:1-4)

Dear reader, I believe you may have, on many occasions, asked yourself the question “why me” because of an unexpected, unpleasant event in your life. As a matter of fact, we don’t always understand the negative circumstances life throws at us. Some life events may cause us to question God’s love and care for us. In extreme cases, some have abandoned the Christian faith because a spouse left the marriage, or they lose a job, a contract, business opportunity or they receive a diagnosis of an incurable disease. “Why me?” and “Where is God?” In such moments, God may seem silent or distant.

In John 11, we see a familiar narrative where Lazarus was ill, his sisters sent for Jesus, but rather than attaching urgency to the SOS call from the sisters, Jesus delayed – purposefully. Eventually Lazarus died. As the narrative progresses, a sense of frustration is registered by his sisters–Martha and Mary. They seemed to have blamed Jesus for the death of their brother, because he delayed in arriving on time. Twice in the narrative, we hear the sisters telling Jesus “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21; 32). They subtly blamed Jesus.

What do you do when you don’t understand what is happening in your life and God seems silent and distant, or when you feel that God is indifferent to your situation? Know that you are not alone. Scripture does account for such sentiments. David, in three places in the Psalms felt God was distant:

Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? (Psalm 10:1)

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? (Psalm 13:1)

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning (Psalm 22:1)

More encouraging still, our Lord on the cross cried out Psalm 22:1:

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? That is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46)

For the rest of this article, I will glean some lessons to help us through moments of doubt and struggle when God seems silent.

Embrace Suffering As Part of The Believer’s Life

Often we are ill prepared for suffering as believers and are therefore caught off guard when adversity comes. This may be a result of the kind of Christianity dominating our Christian milieu. The prosperity, health and wealth gospel has popularised the lie that Christians are not to suffer, get sick or experience setbacks. On the contrary, John Piper, in an article Why I Abominate The Prosperity Gospel, noted that,

Normal Christianity is pain. Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing is the pattern (see 2 Corinthians 6:10). Prosperity preachers do not prepare new converts in third world countries to endure the realities of what it will cost them to be a Christian.

We will do well to prepare ourselves for moments of suffering as believers and not dispair. You are not immune to the problems of this life because you are a believer. Believers get sick, believers experience hardships and believers experience loss in life.

In this narrative, we are introduced to a devoted family. They worship Jesus, they are devoted to him. Notice how one of the sisters-Mary-is presented to us: “It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill” (v.2). It is possible the event was commonly known amongst the readers of John or because it was recorded in the next chapter, John prepares his readers to not lose the plot of the events (John 12:3). But this is an important part of the narrative. It was this devoted woman whose brother was ill: “It was Mary…whose brother was ill” Humanly speaking, this should not happen. With the recorded intensity of devotion to Jesus, how can she lose her brother?

I suspect perhaps John is inviting us into the realities of the lives of devoted people: they encounter suffering. God is not silent because you are suffering. In fact he knows your situation. Another important lesson for our attention is the emphasis John placed on Jesus’ love for this family (John 11:3;5;36). These references to Jesus’ love for them give us a view for them gives us a view into the lives of the family. They were devoted to Jesus and most importantly they are loved by Jesus. Yet one of the people Jesus loved died out of illness.

Call On Jesus In Prayer

Before Lazarus would die, they had called on Jesus: “…the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill” (v.3). We can look at this as a picture of prayer. They called out to Jesus in their moment of trouble. And that is what we should do when problems come. Our first action must be to call out in prayer. Now, though they called on Jesus, their brother died, and this will sometimes be the reality of all of us. We may experience unanswered prayers or delays. We will believe God. We will pray. But what we request may not come, or it may be delayed.

I noted earlier in this article that the sisters subtly blamed Jesus’ delay for their brother’s death. They had no idea behind the delay, but we know because we are now reading the narrative. The verse 4 tells us why: “But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

“But when Jesus heard it…”

This is important for our consideration. Jesus hears us when we call on him. Our call to Jesus for help in prayer does not go unheard. Every cry, every complaint, every scream for help is heard. And therefore whenever it seems to us that God is silent, we must trust him.

Rest In God’s Providence In Our Lives

When Jesus said “This illness does not lead to death…”, he meant that Lazarus’ illness will not ultimately lead to death. Yet, he waited for Lazarus to die so that God’s glory will be seen and revealed through Jesus. The glory of God, the glory of the Son then, is behind the supposed delay. Lazarus will die, so that there will be an opportunity for people to experience the glory of God through Jesus. This is the providence of God working in every detail of our lives. God directs every detail of our lives to his glory. Nothing takes him by surprise. Because everything that happens to us has a purpose. The apostle Paul in the popular Scripture in Romans 8:28 says that

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Do you believe this? You should come to a point of conviction that whatever happens in your life, God is at work behind the scenes for his glory.

There is a little detail in the narrative worth noting. The events are meant to bring Jesus’ disciples to faith in him (John 11:15). Truly every work of Christ is to produce faith in his people, including this. Do you have faith? Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe that he is able to work out every aspect of your life to his glory including your salvation? Please believe this.

Note: This article was originally posted on The Gospel Network by author