Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

We finished the last chapter of the book, It’s Not Supposed to be This Way last week, but Lysa TerKeurst had a beautiful appendix entitled: 9 Scriptures for Surviving the Times when God Seems Silent.  She listed the lie, then the truth (Scripture) and then an affirming statement. 

#	Lie:	Truth:	I will remember:
1	Nothing seems to be changing. God must be ignoring my cries for help.	I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. (Psalm 40:1—2 ESV)	God longs to help me, and He leans in close to listen to me.
2	I’m not sure that God notices me or cares about me. It feels like my prayers don’t even matter.	Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31 ESV)	God longs to help me, and He cares about me deeply.
3	God is probably sick and tired of me and all my weaknesses.	Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (Isaiah 40:28-29)	God longs to help me, and His strength is the answer for all my weaknesses.
4	God can’t possibly change someone like me.	For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29)	God longs to transform me, and He’s making me more and more like Jesus.
5	God gave up on me a long time ago.	being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)	God longs to transform me, and He promises He’ll complete the work He’s doing in me.
6	God wishes I would just hurry up and get my act together.	For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13 ESV)	God longs to transform me, and He is the one who will help me change.
7	I am unworthy of being loved by God	Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:7-8)	God loves me, and He pursues me even when I act unlovable.
8	If God really loved me, He wouldn’t let me feel this much pain.	Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)	God loves me, and He promises not to waste any of my pain.
9	If I’m honest with God about my feelings, He’ll be disappointed and stop loving me.	Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. (Psalm 62:8)	God loves me, and He invites me to pour my heart out to Him honestly.

• Lysa TerKeurst, It’s Not Supposed to be this Way (All bold-italics are direct quotes in a different format)

The author did a very good job here.  Does anything need to be added?

Well, there are probably many more lies that are told by Satan and his fallen angels.  Each of them can be handled in the same fashion.  Any lie told by the enemy can easily be countered by Truth from God’s Holy Word.

But I have a different question to add.  What if you have no problem with the fact that God seems to be silent?  I want to know in such times what God wishes me to learn by this silence.  Am I on the trajectory that God wants me to be on or have I veered from that path?  I have been on a journey of faith for over fifty years.  I stumbled and bumbled for much of those years, even while serving as a church leader (elder or deacon).  But I still have my moments when I take my eyes away from Jesus, and sometimes, I might rely on my own strength.  And what if I take a wrong turn in what I am writing?

God gets your attention at times very dramatically, but He can also get your attention by the silent treatment.

And remember something that Beth Moore said years ago.  When you have difficulty feeling the warmth of God’s love, you have moved too far from the fire.  (Or something along those lines.)  So, the silent treatment may mean you have stayed far enough from God’s voice that you cannot hear.

Lord, guide me. Help me to remember that the answers to the lies that this world so readily tells are found in the Scriptures.  You never forsake us.  You love us.  And You never change.  In Your name I pray.  Amen.

This concludes this mini-series.  I have some ideas for the next series, but nothing is shouting for my attention.  Either next week or within a couple of weeks, I will have something.  When I trust God in this endeavor, He guides me.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.