There are times in our lives when we really need God to be God. Whether in the depths of despair or the darkness of loss, or when we have ventured into hopelessness, we say we need Him to “show up” in a big way. We have no idea how to solve the problem or cure the illness or restore the vitality of hope in our lives. He invites us to pray to Him. “Ask and you shall receive,” He says. But often there is only silence or “static” on the frequency we have chosen to hear from Him. And our questions remain, for we haven’t heard from Him.
If I can offer you any hope today, it would be to tell you that He is the God of all questions—those with answers and those without. To be sure, there are questions without answers. Job knew this reality probably as well as anyone in the Bible. God was proving a point to Satan in the heavenlies, and unknown to Job, who was the victim of told and untold calamity, God knew exactly what He was doing.
And yet though Job was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil,” he was not without despair or emotion. He “would speak to the Almighty, and . . . desire to argue [his] case with God.”[1] Job said, “[t]hough he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.”[2] His friends and his wife didn’t help him. “Miserable comforters are you all.”[3] And eventually God did answer Job but it was a really interesting conversation.
I have had one of those conversations with God as well, and maybe you have, too. The answers I received to my prayers were not what I had expected. Looking back on that years ago now, He put me in my place with a thundering velvet hand. The answers to my prayers turned out to be so much better than I could have imagined. Even more, I never left Him. Perhaps I should have gone to Him more often in the years that preceded this time that I just needed Him to show up.
Don’t we need God to be God when we are not in the depths of despair or the dark places in our lives? God allows us to communicate with Him through prayer when times are good. He allows us to approach the throne of Grace in confidence and praise Him for His grace and redemption. The relationship we seek with Him should be more than just one-way, and more than just when we need Him to show up. And even then, like Job, God’s purposes may be so great in our trouble, that our questions may not have answers—on this side of the dark glass—as we “squint” into His wider reality.
I often talk with young people about hearing from God. It has been the question most asked of me in the classroom. “Why can’t I hear from Him? Why is God so silent?” In many ways, they are really asking for the assurance that He’s there. In the words of a Nicole Nordeman song, “are you small enough to hear me, God?” I tell them that there’s constant communication between me and God and if they know and love Jesus as their Savior, the same goes for them.
Much like the flickering green lights on the modem next to my computer, data is being exchanged all the time between God and His promised Holy Spirit that is within me. Much like those green lights on the modem, I am unaware of what data is being transmitted to or received from God. The Bible documents this fact for me. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit that I have received when I accepted the Lordship of Jesus Christ, intercedes on my behalf with the Almighty Himself, with groanings and transmissions I can’t hear or possibly conceive of.[4] Those flickering green lights on that modem have become my reminder to connect with God in an intentional, overt way each day, and not just when I need Him to show up.
I’ll ask my students to consider the electromagnetic spectrum. Science may have helped define it, but it describes more of God’s creation than words can convey here. From Gamma and X-rays on one end through microwaves that heat our foods, to television and radio frequencies that reach the extremes, the electromagnetic spectrum suggests ranges of frequencies we use to connect each day. Why is it then, that when we want to hear from God, we only look to that very narrow band of the spectrum that’s called “stuff we can see,” or visible light? God communicates with us in that bandwidth to be sure, as the Bible says His creation is made plain to all of us.[5]
But the Bible also says that spiritual battles are raging for us against dark world rulers, and dark world authorities, and powers and principalities and something called spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.[6] Angels are engaging on our behalf in this great cosmic battle. On what frequency is God commanding His legions? Where on the electromagnetic spectrum is that happening? On what frequency is the Holy Spirit groaning to God in intercession for us? The Bible says that “the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”[7] On what frequency is that transmission being sent out? You see, there’s communication between us and God happening all the time.
Why should we be surprised that if we are looking for answers to our prayers and questions only in the bandwidth of visible light, that our God chooses not to answer us there? Perhaps we should be seeking Him out and connecting with Him on a frequency of His choosing. What does that look like?
In the mid-1990s, I attended several Promise Keepers men’s conferences which were stadium events with speakers and prayer and worship. If you’ve never heard 75,000 men gathered in a stadium singing, in unison, lifting their voices in praise songs to the Father, then perhaps you might not understand. I would go to a high place in the stadium so that just in my peripheral vision, without moving my head, I could witness thousands of men united in praise to our God; and that, my friend, is what it looks like when you are on a frequency of God’s choosing.
When I met my future bride, I wasn’t looking for her. In fact, I may have been looking for someone else. I had given over to God the search for my life’s partner, and when we met, I found out that she had done the same thing. We united early and often on the things of God and His world. The Bible says that God brought Eve to Adam. God was in the middle of it. Could it be that our efforts have failed because we have not considered God’s desires for our lives with our spouses? After knowing her for 50 days, I asked her to marry me. And six months later we were married. This summer we will be celebrating 42 years of marriage. That’s uniting with God on a frequency of His choosing.
What songs comprise the playlist of your favorite music? Who are the friends you run around with? What radio stations are programmed into your car? What television programming makes its way into your living rooms each day? What movies do you frequent? Finally, what does your debit card account statement or checkbook register say about you? All of these are ways you can assess if you are connecting with God on a frequency of His choosing. And if you’re thinking that you fall short of staying connected with God as much as you should, and that perhaps you’ve grieved the Holy Spirit on occasion and perhaps that could be why He doesn’t answer your prayers, then I don’t mean to patronize you on this, but . . . take a number. We have all done that.
God’s not up there to “get even” with you by staying silent. He knows who we are and what we’re capable of. And He still values you with an infinite price that Jesus paid for you on the cross. He did it for Pilate who crucified Him, and He did it for Hitler and Stalin and Bin Laden and sinful you and sinful me. He did it for the Muslim and the Buddhist and the Hindu and the pagans. Compared to every other conception of God out there, my God is the one who wishes to be revealed. He gave us His word. I know Him existentially. And I can accurately report that you are of infinite value to Him and His love for you is the greatest love of all.
If you have friends who are turning away from God because He doesn’t answer their prayers, may I ask to whom are they turning? What is the alternative for someone who doesn’t believe in God? What is the draw for someone to follow your friends into unbelief, nihilism, or atheism? Is God not answering fast enough for their liking? For your friends to second guess God is to make themselves equal to Him. And, I’m sorry, but a god I can comprehend with my own mind is not the transcendent, master of the universe I need to show up in a big way, to handle my problems and answer my prayers.
You should pursue the spiritual disciplines of solitude, study, and prayer. Getting away and spending time being quiet, reading God’s word, and listening for God’s voice is good and proper. Sometimes, these disciplines give you the best chance of connecting with God on a frequency He chooses. But, never, never, never give up on Him. Job complained to Him, but never about Him. And just as Moses interceded for the ancient nation of Israel, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with God—even when we think He’s not answering our prayers. I cannot tell you why that is. The Bible asks, “Who is man that you are mindful of him?” I am clearly no one special. And yet to God, I am of infinite value—and so are you. I think they call this “grace.”
His ways are not like our ways. “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”[8] Now, that’s my God. He knows how He wants to solve the problem or cure the illness or restore the vitality of hope in our lives. I talk with Him. He is the God of all my questions—those that have answers and those that do not. And today it’s my prayer that you connect with Him soon.
When you do, don’t be surprised if you find out He’s been trying to reach you for some time now. He is a God who has always wanted to be revealed to you. That’s one reason why He sent His son Jesus to us. That is the truth of Easter. And because of this revelation, He has proved Himself to be a God we can trust—especially when He is silent.
Thank you for reading.
[1] See Job 13:3. Were Job to argue with God, he would never argue about God.
[2] See Job 1:1, and 13:15.
[3] See Job 16:1.
[4] See Romans 8:26.
[5] See Romans 1:19.
[6] See Ephesians 6.
[7] See Romans 8:16.
[8] See Romans 11:33.