Devotions — Kristine Brown, Author

Some seasons are quieter than others. I remember not so long ago when getting a quiet moment to myself felt beyond reach. A full time teaching job, a classroom of kids every day, family activities on the weekends, all contributed to a full, busy, and noisy life. It was anything but quiet.

Now, I’d love to have a little noise back in the daily routine. Noise keeps my mind and heart occupied, leaving little room for wandering into loneliness or discouragement. When it’s quiet, I can get carried away in my own thoughts.

This season has brought more quiet than I expected, so I’ve had to lean into the silence. To seek more of God in my quiet times. To have conversations with Him instead of in my own head. (That happens a lot when I’m surrounded by too much quiet.)

But we don’t have to be in a quiet season to feel like God is quiet.

There are times when I can’t hear Him. When I long to have a discussion with God, but the conversation feels one-sided. I talk and talk but hear nothing in return. I know God is here, always. His Word confirms it, so why are there times when I can’t hear His voice?

Is God Really Silent?

Sometimes when I pray, I don’t sense an answer from God right away. I start analyzing the possible reason for His silence. I wonder if maybe it’s a test, and He’s waiting to see what I will do while He looks on from a distance. I search and search for an answer in His Word, because I’ve heard that the answer to every problem can be found there.

But after exhausting all my efforts and coming up empty, I feel defeated. Silence leads to loneliness, and I question why He would leave me to face my problem alone.

I’ve realized that too much quiet can lead my thoughts down a dangerous path. So when quiet seasons leave me feeling alone with only my thoughts to keep my company, I need to begin by reminding myself of the truth. God cares, and He will never leave us alone.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 ESV

I’m so thankful for the access we have to God’s Word. A quick topic search can lead me to hope-filled verses I can count on in difficult times. Scripture is alive, active, and relevant to our needs. So the truth is that as long as we have God’s Word with us, God is never silent. He is with us wherever we go in a very tangible way. When I carry God’s Word with me, I have Him with me.

Help for When We Don’t Hear God

If we know the truth that God is not silent, how can we keep our minds from wandering into dangerous territory? How can we keep the quiet from getting to us?

If you’re struggling today with feeling like God is quiet, I understand. There are steps we can take to ensure we keep our minds and hearts grounded in the truth of God’s faithfulness. Here are four tips we can try when God is quiet. These have each been helpful to me, and I pray you find them helpful, too.

Look for the truth that God is here, even if we don’t hear anything.

Just like the verse I shared above in Joshua 1:9, the Bible is filled with encouraging verses to remind us about God’s powerful presence. When we seek encouragement from Scripture, we will find it.

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

If you sense negative things like frustration or bitterness working their way into your heart in the quiet, seek out verses about God’s presence to bring you comfort.

Ask God to show us ways He is working, even if we don’t see anything changing.

My neighborhood is filled with all types of birds. On quiet days, I listen to the sounds of chirping outside, and it always brings to mind familiar verses about how God cares for them. In the same way, God is constantly working on our behalf. He loves and cares for us more than we can imagine. When we ask God to reveal ways He is working in our lives and the lives of our loved ones, He is gracious to bring to mind blessings we hadn’t noticed before.

“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” Matthew 6:26

Turn our focus toward others. How can we support, help, or encourage someone today?

Just last week I was dealing with an illness that would not subside. Staying indoors and away from others made me feel even worse. I mentioned this to my subscribers in the weekly email I send, and several readers emailed me back with heartfelt prayers for a quick recovery.

Each message I received uplifted me in a way that I can’t explain. Those prayers meant so much to me and inspired me to do the same for others.

I for one can get very self-focused in my time alone. I don’t mean to think only about myself; it just happens. I talk and talk to myself until I get absorbed in what’s going on in my own life. This self-awareness makes God’s silence seem even more deafening. Thinking about ways to support other people gets my mind away from my own problems and shifts my focus outward.

What ways can we offer help to others today? Through prayer, a friendly message, or a gift? When we shift our focus, we may even find that we become one of the ways God is working to bless someone else. (See #2 above.)

Keep a prayer list or journal.

There’s a space in the front of my daily planner to write prayers, with an added space to record God's answers. I spend a lot of my quiet time looking over that list. It’s my go-to place when I need to focus my heart on good things and want my quiet time to be productive. (See #3.)

Some of those prayers have been answered. Some spaces are still blank. But as I read my list, I feel renewed hope deep in my spirit. I know without a doubt of God’s unfailing love for us. I am reminded how much He cares.

If I don’t write things down, I can easily forget God’s faithfulness of the past. And I don’t want to forget. I want to remember every answered prayer, and even the unanswered ones. Journaling helps me reflect on the goodness of God.

Are you having trouble hearing God? Are you questioning why He has been silent in your life? I’m glad you’re here, reading this right now. Because I believe God speaks through his people to offer life-giving words when we can’t hear Him. He is here in our midst at this very moment, whispering love, comfort, and peace to our longing hearts.

May we grow in the knowledge of our Lord through the quiet and trust He is here.

Anxious posts filled my newsfeed from young moms in search of infant formula. Empty store shelves replaced the once-stocked products. I could feel the desperation in their hearts as they reached out asking loved ones to keep an eye open for what their babies needed.

Words like “product unavailable” and “out of stock” only adding to their discouragement. How do we know God will supply when all we see is emptiness?

We’ve all known times when something we need gets stripped away and we suddenly don’t know what to do. We look ahead and agonize over where provision will come from and when the answer will arrive. Desperation, panic, and frustration fill our hearts so full that we have no room left.

We question whether there’s enough in reserve to make it till next year, next month, or maybe even next week. And if we’re honest, we’re also questioning why God doesn’t restock the shelves already.

God’s Plan for Provision

Panic and uncertainty can shake our faith. Yet it’s in those desperate times God gives us the opportunity to grow in that faith. Without our empty-shelf moments, we wouldn’t see God’s great plan for providing in every area of our lives.

Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (ESV)

I for one have gotten carried away with this verse before. I quote it with such enthusiasm that I forget one important detail. God meets every need, but he doesn’t meet them all at once.

Just ask the widow of Zarephath.

The Widow of Zarephath in the Bible

Gathering sticks near the town gate, the widow’s thoughts fixated on her predicament. We know her only by where she lived— Zarephath. Not by her name. Her circumstances had progressed from bad to worse.

If there was ever a time to entertain strangers, this was not it. Yet, a man approached her before she could avoid eye-contact and rush off in the opposite direction. She had more pressing worries than to get sidetracked by someone she didn’t even know.

“Would you please bring me a little water in a cup?” As she was going to get it, he called to her, “Bring me a bite of bread, too.” (1 Kings 17:10b-11 NLT) Only, she didn’t have enough to bring him a bite of bread.

“I swear by the Lord your God that I don’t have a single piece of bread in the house. And I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die.” (1 Kings 17:12 NLT)

She couldn’t deal with this right now. Two and a half years of drought and she’d done the best she could. Her ability to provide quickly fading, along with the hope of any future for her boy.

But Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son” (1 Kings 17:13 NLT)

Then in the very next verse, Elijah tells us everything we need to know about trusting God for provision, “For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’”

God gave her exactly what she needed for the moment. When that was gone, he filled her jar again for the next.

What the Bible Says About Being Filled

The widow’s story is so profound; I don’t want us to pass through and miss this vital truth. She looked ahead and thought about her future. At first, she made assumptions based on the one measly serving left in her jar. But then, she decided to trust God with it.

God wants us to flip the script on how we view that one serving.

Instead of seeing a bleak future based on our current circumstances, let’s ask God for what we need right now. Nothing more. As we believe him to fill us for what’s next, our faith will grow.

I love how the Amplified Version puts Philippians 4:19, “And my God will liberally supply (fill until full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Fill until full. Yes, Lord.

The widow of Zarephath only had enough left for one meal, but she obeyed Elijah’s words and made one serving for him first. Then after her step of faith, God supplied enough for her and her son. The next day, he provided again. And the next. And the next.

“The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.” (1 Kings 17:16 ESV)

In the deep empty places where hopelessness thrives, we can give in to the lie that God doesn’t have enough left for what we need. Will we trust God when only one serving remains at the bottom of the jar?

I’ve heard it said that God does amazing things with empty vessels. I believe that’s true, no matter what the need is. Let’s take our emptiness to him today and trust our faithful God to provide.

A guided prayer for asking God to fill our emptiness.

Want to take notes on the widow of Zarephath story and discover more about God’s endless supply in our own lives? Become a subscriber, and I’ll send you a unique graphic organizer I created to use when studying the lives of women in the Bible.