He's Up to Something

Silence.  It can be a beautiful.  When days are full and noise is rampant, silence is something that I cherish.  Last week, I had 2 sick kids who were both napping, a another was at a friend’s house for the afternoon, and the remaining child was at school.  The afternoon, for 3 hours, was completely silent.  I hardly knew what to do with myself.  It was glorious. 

Silence.  It can be dangerous.  That kid.  You know the one.  When there is silence, there is trouble.  Someone is getting a haircut.  Something is getting unscrewed, torn apart, glued or taped.  One afternoon, I was folding laundry in my bedroom.  There was silence in the house while my youngest was sleeping and my son was watching his favorite show.  There comes a moment when things are too quiet.  I knew I needed to investigate but I didn’t want to interrupt the beautiful quiet.  "Just a few more minutes, and then I’ll check things out," I thought.  Just then, my son came running into the room crying, like he was in pain and a little scared.  He showed me what he had been doing.  I am still not sure what he was trying to do, but after seeing a battery and aluminum foil, I figured out what caused the tears.  My four year-old had created his own electrical science experiment.  Thankfully, other than learning a hard lesson, he wasn’t permanently injured.

Silence.  It can be frustrating.  When you are waiting for an answer and it just won’t come.  Many of my prayers are those of waiting.  God, show me, tell me what to do.  Yes or No?  Major life decisions, personal problems, family issues, and challenges with my children; sometimes clarity comes quickly, thankfully.  Most of the time, the answers come slowly, if at all.

Today is Good Friday, Holy Friday.  Jesus’ followers watch their best friend get humiliated and beaten, then put to die on a cross.  All they had known for three years, ended on that day, in silence. The disciples ran and hid, for fear of their own arrest.  They spent the next couple days, in frustrating, painful silence.

Why does God stay silent when we need to hear from Him?  Doesn’t he know the anguish his silence causes?  We are a need to know people!  We need an immediate response.

I wonder, if during that silence, Jesus' followers tried to think back over their time with him to remember anything and everything he said to them.  Jesus predicted his own death numerous times.  Luke actually records that the two angels at the tomb reminded the women what Jesus told them, “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.” (Luke 24:7 NIV)  It was in that moment, the women “remembered his words”.  They connected the dots and had an AH-HA moment.   

He’s up to something.  When the disciples were waiting in silence for 3 days after Jesus’ death, God was up to something.  It’s as if God was saying, “Hold on, dear one, wait and see what I am going to do.”

Are you sitting and waiting in silence?  Waiting for God to bring an end to your pain or a cure for an illness?  Are you waiting on God to bring a loved one home or to piece together a broken marriage?

In the midst of the silence, God is working things out on your behalf.  It may take a little time, to change hearts and circumstances, but he is working.     

Hold on, dear one, wait and see what GOD is going to do!

Romans 8:26-28 The Message

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

The Waiting by Jamie Grace