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Where Are You, Lord?

By Dr. Charles Stanley

Years ago, a friend of mine went to visit a couple in his congregation. Oil had been discovered in their neighborhood, and engineers had told the community that soon they would all be rich beyond their wildest dreams. The couple saw this as the hand of God and figured it was only a matter of time before oil was discovered on their land.

"Pastor," the man told him, "it never happened. God has forgotten us. They discovered oil on both sides of our property and even on the lot behind us—but not a drop on our land. Our neighbors are selling their homes and moving into the city, but we are left out here alone."

Do you ever wonder if God has abandoned you? Believers can feel very frustrated when the Father is quiet. There have been plenty of occasions when, after much weeping over a crisis affecting me or a loved one, I would have found a simple word from the Lord tremendously comforting—and yet He remained silent.

To make matters worse, in reading the Bible, we can get the impression that God always spoke to the men whose stories fill its pages. But we don't see things working that way for us. And because our worldview includes a loving God who has presented Himself to us as a Father, His silence makes our difficulties that much more challenging.

Sometimes adversity comes as a result of things over which you have no control. You did not pick your parents, yet you may be dealing with issues that stem from their problems. You may have lost a job over something that was not your fault at all. Maybe you did your best to appease an impossible spouse, but that person chose to abandon you and your children.

Situations such as these can prompt us to think, If there were a God in heaven, He would not sit idly while I suffer.

The Lord's silence during our trials raises two basic questions.

First, what in the world is God up to when we are hurting so desperately and need to hear from Him?

God's silence in no way indicates a lack of divine activity in our lives. We are often guilty of judging our Father's concern for us by how favorable or unfavorable our circumstances are. When adversity comes, we think, Lord, where are You? Why don't You do something?

God's involvement must be measured by two things: the development of our character and the fulfillment of His plan. Joseph spent about 13 years facing one difficulty after another. Yet because of those hardships, the Lord later saved his family from starvation. Likewise, God uses adversity to accomplish His will in our lives.

Second, what are we to do in the meantime?

The answer to that is simple, though not always easy: Trust God. If you will not trust Him, that means you'll take matters into your own hands—and then you run the risk of making things worse.

Are you thinking, But you don't understand my circumstances? If so, you may be right. But think about Joseph, who was sold as a slave and then thrown into prison unfairly. No friends, no family, no church, no freedom, no money, no Bible, no apparent answers from God. Yet he remained faithful—and so did his heavenly Father.

Whatever happened to the family who had no oil on their land? A few years later, my friend ran into the landowner, who was smiling from ear to ear. The minister assumed oil had finally been found on his property. "Quite the contrary," the man replied. "And I'm very glad of it."

He explained that all of their neighbors had moved to the city, where they bought expensive homes and new cars. They joined country clubs and sent their children to the finest private schools. But after a while, that lifestyle began to take its toll. Their marriages started breaking apart. Their children rebelled. And the families stopped attending church on a regular basis.

"Pastor," the man told him, "God did us a big favor by not putting any oil on our land. We are still together and love each other even more than before. We thank the Lord every day for giving us what is important and protecting us from things that we couldn't see were harmful." God had not forgotten that family. He simply had different plans in mind for them.

When the Lord is silent, you have only one reasonable option: trust Him. Hang in there, and wait on Him. He may be quiet, but He has not quit on you. Even through your greatest adversity, He's working to develop your character and accomplish His will for your life.

Adapted from "https://store.intouch.org/showproductbycode.aspx?sku=LWADVB" target="_blank">"How to Handle Adversity" by Charles F. Stanley. 1989.

Copyright 2012 In Touch Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. <a href="http://www.intouch.org/">www.intouch.org</a>. In Touch grants permission to print for personal use only.