Even in silence, God is always working

Two brothers, age 8 and 10, were always playing pranks and getting into mischief. Their parents, beside themselves with anxiety, decided to send the boys to talk with the pastor of the church, a God-fearing, no-nonsense preacher.

The eight-year old had the first appointment. When he sat in the chair across from the pastor's desk, the pastor regarded him with a deep scowl, and after a minute said, "Young man, where is God?" The boy remained silent. The pastor raised his voice. "Young man, I said, where is God?" Still the boy remained quiet, but his eyes widened, and he swallowed nervously. The pastor leaned over his desk and yelled, "Young man, I asked you a question! Now where is God?"

In terror the boy leaped from his chair, ran home, and vaulted up the stairs to his bedroom. The ten-year old, hearing the noise, ran into his younger brother's bedroom and found him shivering in the closet. "What happened?" he said, starting to get scared himself.

"Oh man, we're in deep trouble," said the eight-year old. "God's missing and everyone thinks we did it."

Do you ever feel like God is missing? You cry out to Him, imploring Him to answer your prayers, yet He remains mysteriously silent? I think of those who live in chronic pain from which there is little relief; those who have spouses who have traded them in on younger models; those whose loved ones have died innocently in tragic accidents. Possibly you have been in such a situation and have prayed until there are no words left, and still God remains silent... "missing," if you will. It feels as if God has closed down His throne room and left on vacation. Why doesn't He speak to us as He did to Moses at the burning bush or Elijah who conversed with God on a regular basis?

This last month was a tough one. My e-mail prayer chain was filled with tragic stories: a stillborn baby; reoccurring cancers, including a seven-year old who died from it; a family struggling because the father is in Iraq; and people despairing because they have been laid off from work. Sometimes those enduring such crises immediately feel God's presence and are comforted by His love. Others feel nothing and cry out "Why?" or "What am I to do now?" but there is no answer, and they are called to wait. I don't know about you, but I'm not sure there are many tougher places to be than the spiritual "waiting room."

In Romans 8:28 Paul says, "...in all things God works for the good of those who love him." Notice it says "in ALL things"? That means that, even in silence, God is working. Perhaps He is teaching us patience. Perhaps He just wants us to trust that He is in control and we aren't. Perhaps it's where we learn to really pray and rely on Him. Or perhaps it's where we recognize how frail this life is so that we look forward to Heaven even more.

I certainly don't have the answers, but I do know that when my brother David died, I couldn't imagine that anything "good" could come out of it, but I was wrong. From it, I learned a valuable lesson: life is sacred, and knowing that, I need to love harder, ask for less, serve more generously, and recognize that although an event may be tragic, God can still work it for good. Probably not the "good" that I would have chosen, but maybe that's why God is on the throne and I'm not.