Navigating Seasons When God Is Silent | 1 Samuel 3:1

Have you ever felt the weight of God's silence? Today, I will give you two suggestions for navigating it.

Welcome to the Daily Devo. I am Vince Miller.

This week, we are reading 1 Samuel 3. I've titled this chapter "Into Our Silence God Speaks." Today, I am reading verse 1, which states:

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. — 1 Samuel 3:1

If you are a believer, there is no greater comfort than hearing from the Lord. At the same time, there is no greater discomfort when you want to hear from Him, but you sense that either He is not speaking or you are not hearing Him.

More than a few times in my life, I have experienced this silence on matters of health, vocation, healing, finances, and marriage when I wanted an answer from God. This silence is disturbing and unsettling. Often, it leads to anxiety, confusion, and frustration that can mess with my head. In God's silence, my patience sometimes wears thin, and if I am not careful, my beliefs and thoughts will lead me to take matters into my own hands because I am weary of waiting on the Lord.

Have you been there? We all have.

The people of Israel were in the same place in 1 Samuel 3. They were in a time of silence when the "word of the Lord was rare." But the reason why was stated in Chapter 2 is that the priests at Shiloh, Eli’s sons, “did not know the Lord” and behaved in contempt for God and the people (1 Samuel 2:12–17).

So, if you are still waiting to hear from the Lord, let me make two simple suggestions.

Stop Spending Time With People Who Don't Know The Lord
First, stop spending time with people who do not know the Lord, even if they appear to know the Lord. Many people boast credentials, status, and education but are not grounded in the Lord (like Eli's sons). Their answers are based on secular ideologies and will lead you away from the Lord and further into silence.

Start Spending Time With People Who Do Know The Lord
Second, start spending time with people who know the Lord. These people are easy to find. They read God's word, listen to sound teachers, and share godly wisdom. In addition, increase your intake of God's Word and get around praying people who will pray for you.

If you do both of these things, the silence will break for you as it did for God's people. God will send the light of hope to you through Samuel, even in the darkest and quietest moments.

And then listen. God will speak, and you will know it. It will be easy to discern because it will be the voice of comfort in your present discomfort.

Let's pray:

God, please speak to those today to whom you have been silent. Please help them to eliminate the dissonance of this world. Put believers in their lives to whom you speak, and may your Word be a clear voice of comfort in their present season. Amen.

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