Have you ever had one (or more) of those times when life became particularly hard and, to compound the woes, God seemed uncomfortably silent at that very moment when you wished He'd sent a telegram. I mean, granted, silence is His primary language- we've already established that- and it is in stillness and silence spent (invested is a better word) with Him that we come to sense His presence. But on these kinds of days, there seems to be no sense of His presence at all. He just doesn't seem to be there.
At such times, it would help to remember three things. First, His promise is that He IS there- "I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5) He will NOT desert us, divorce us, abandon us, walk out on us, leave us- no matter how much it may feel like He has. Secondly, He promises to catch our tears in His jar. (Psalm 56:8) He has to be awfully close to pull that off, holding that jar up close enough to our cheek to catch the tears as they flow- even when it seems like He's the farthest away He's ever been. Finally, remember your school days. Your teachers talked a lot- right? Except for one day each week, when they were noticeably silent. That was test day. They passed out the test and you never heard a word from them the rest of the day. But they hadn't left the room. They were still close by. If you needed help, they would do what they could without robbing you of the joy of a job well done. Their job was not simply to have you pass a test, but to encourage as they saw character grow in you through the process.
On life's toughest days (test days), God has not left the room. He is still there. He may be silent, but He's there. Close by. Ready to encourage. Grieving with our pain, yet celebrating when He sees the character of Christ grow to maturity inside of us, because He knows that, as tough as those days are, we'll some day realize that they were well worth the trouble. Even so, come Lord Jesus!
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