When God is Silent

So the Word became human and made his home among us.
John 1:14 (NLT)

Silence can be good. It can also be worrisome, especially if you have three rambunctious little boys in the house. I remember one particular incident when my sons were playing a game of cops and robbers. The noisy gang suddenly went very quiet. When I went to check on them, I discovered our oldest son was painting a black mask on his brother’s face with markers.

            Before Jesus came as a babe in a manger, the people of Israel experienced 400 years of silence. 400 years without any communication from God. 400 years of watching and waiting. Surely, they believed God had abandoned them.

            Yet, during those years of silence, God was at work, preparing the way for His one and only Son to enter a world filled with sin and darkness. It’s easy to mistake silence for inactivity. When we pray, yet fail to hear an answer, we are tempted to believe God doesn’t care. Nothing could be further from the truth. Though God be silent, He sees our sorrows, hears our prayers, and cares about our trials. Though God be silent, He’s still at work.

            400 years of silence leading up to God’s greatest gift to humankind – Jesus-Christ, God with us. God’s silence shattered with just one word; Jesus, The Word incarnate.