1 Samuel 3:1 “Now the young man Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.”
There was no frequent vision……..
Why? Why does God speak sometimes and at other times He is silent?
I have been introducing my wife to the NBC series Kings. It only lasted one season because NBC had no vision or patience and they put it in an awful time slot. I bought it on DVD and have enjoyed sharing this awesome show with Desiree. It is the story of King Saul and David set in modern times. A huge theme in the show is the human desire to understand when, how, and to whom God chooses to speak to? King Silas (the character based on Saul) hears Gods voice and enjoys His favor until suddenly he finds God silent and absent. I have loved the story of David and Saul since childhood. As a child I always identified with David but as an adult I identify with Saul more and more. I feel like God spoke so plainly to us about going to El Paso but now as we ask Him about the future we don’t hear anything. Our Leadership Residency will come to an end soon (it last 12 months or when the money runs out). What are we supposed to do next? Where does he want us for the long haul?
Is He speaking and we are not listening? Are we not listening so He is not speaking? Are we disobeying Him somehow and he figures “if I can’t trust them in small things I can’t trust them with big things”? Or are we on the right track obeying Him but He is still silent? Maybe he just wants us to make a choice? Maybe we could do many things / go many places and He would bless any of our choices as long as they were made in faith? Don’t get me wrong, this is not a bad season at all! Things are going well for us on the whole and Paseo is doing great as a church. God has confirmed our desire to be a part of a network of relational house churches. We are on the right track, it is just the details that are fuzzy. Should I even be asking God about the details?
Maybe God will answer maybe he won’t. But no matter what I need to be listening. I have been struggling with listening to Him since we got here and I am not sure why? It has been difficult for me to establish a routine of silence, prayer, and study. But how can I expect to hear from Him without it?
“Where shall the word be found, where will the word
Resound? Not here, there is not enough silence
Not on the sea or on the islands, not
On the mainland, in the desert or the rain land,
For those who walk in darkness
Both in the day time and in the night time
The right time and the right place are not here
No place of grace for those who avoid the face
No time to rejoice for those who walk among noise and
deny the voice”
T.S. Elliot Ash – Wednesday
1930
A New Order of Things 