~ written by Connie Dunmyer
Nowadays when we receive a phone call, we almost always know who is calling. In fact, if it’s not a name or number I know, I don’t even answer. And so when I make a phone call, I pretty much know that the person I am calling knows it’s coming from me. So if they don’t pick up, if they don’t answer, I can assume they are either too busy, or maybe just too annoyed to talk to me.
So what happens when you call God, and you get “no answer”?
37 So Saul asked God, “Shall I go down and pursue the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel’s hand?” BUT GOD did not answer him that day. ~ 1 Samuel 14:37
I’m a rather impatient person. I hate waiting – for anything. And if I’m being honest, if I don’t hear an answer back from God, I tend to try to figure things out for myself. Not exactly wise.
Saul had that same tendency.
In 1 Samuel 13, the prophet Samuel told Saul to “wait” – and when it became to hard to wait anymore – Saul plowed forward on his own. Then in 1 Samuel 14, Saul made “vows” of his own accord, which caused problems down the line – even to the point that Saul was willing to kill his own son over them. He wanted the glory.
By chapter 15, Saul is doing his own thing. Even created a monument to himself. He tries to deny wrong doing, and instead paints it as doing good, or that problems were caused by others. And at this point, God has had enough. Saul, who used to be humble and godly, has become clothed in pride. It started small. It became big.
1 Samuel 16:1 “The Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.’”
I’ve been watching a TV special about a football team. I LOVE football and so even though I’m not a fan of that team, it’s been very interesting. I won’t go into specifics, but it’s clear that what once was promising from its humble beginnings, became desolate of honor because of pride. I only bring this up to point out that pride destroys. Period. Full stop. We may not always "see" the destruction with our eyes – but it happens.
Yet – isn’t that the very thing that we all struggle with in some form?
Oh we don’t often recognize it as pride. I may even look at it as righteousness – which is a scary thought. But maybe like – “look what I did for God.” Or comparing ourselves with others and thinking that “I” am more righteous than another. Oh my! We may want what someone else has. Isn't that envy? Yes. But it's something "I" think "I" deserve. What about hatred? Again – why would we hate except that it affects "self".
In fact, I would say that most sins have the root of, and can be traced back to pride – because pride is “self” and we humans do “self” really well.
So we come back to: why did God “not answer”? Well – only God really knows. But it would seem to me that He could no longer communicate with Saul. Saul was doing his own thing. Perhaps God held back His words so that Saul would take a step back and search his own heart and repent. Perhaps it was grace that kept God from speaking that day. But Saul’s heart had become hardened. If he couldn’t “hear from God”, then he would just take matters into his own hands. Afterall, he was king. He had the "right".
Ouch!
There are times in my life when God does not “answer that day” because I need to be humbled. There are times when God wants me to be quiet before Him, so I CAN hear Him. There are times when He needs for me to learn to “wait” (which of course I hate). But like any child, I must be trained away from "the crying to get a bottle”. We don’t want “bottle-fed”, crying adults, do we? I must be trained to wait.
Sometimes I don’t hear because I am so focused on the problem; I don’t have faith in what God will say or do. Sometimes God’s answer is “no” – and I simply don’t accept that as His answer. Which isn’t the same thing as God not answering – but we can convince ourselves that God hasn’t answered. But in reality, He just said “no”. On the flip side of that, sometimes God says “Yes”, but we don’t follow through for various reasons (fear, depression, indifference, uncomfortableness, lack of faith, anger, etc.)
Sometimes God’s answer to us is just so unexpected, that we don’t recognize it.
We are often unprepared for the answers we receive from God. His answers frequently do not look at first like answers. They look like problems. They look like trouble. They look like loss, disappointment, affliction, conflict, sorrow, and increased selfishness. They cause deep soul wrestling and expose sins and doubts and fears. They are not what we expect, and we often do not see how they correspond to our prayers. ~ Jon Bloom, Desiring God
I can relate to this. Sometimes I ask for things and I really don’t know what I’m asking. God is answering – or God is quiet. But it’s all for the purpose of BECOMING what I asked for… the ultimate goal being to become more and more like Jesus. I cannot pick and choose the truths I like or not. If I want to become like Jesus, then all things are on the table. And that does require waiting.
I think I’ve also learned that if God is not answering – then perhaps my prayer, my request, is amiss. My motives are not really as pure as I think they are:
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. [KJV]
3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. [NIV]
And let us not forget, or push to the side, that it is also very possible that the thing blocking us from an answer from God is sin – which is anything that stands against God. Pride. Fleshly desires. Material things. Because “the heart wants what the heart wants”, doesn’t mean we have to give into it. Rather – repent. Go the other direction. Receive forgiveness. Be made clean again. 1 Samuel chapters 15 & 16 should be a warning to us all:
1 Samuel 15:11 – 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king…
1 Samuel 16:1 – 1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him…
Can there be any worse answer than when God speaks and says “I regret” or “I have rejected”?
Waiting is hard. Not hearing from God in the manner or timing we would prefer is hard. But staying humble, staying available, continually searching for God rather than things, is by far preferable to the alternative. So don't give up - and don't give in. Wait. Listen. Wait some more. Only the Father knows what we need and when we need it. And He WILL answer when it's time. He is never EVER late.
Jeremiah 29:12-14 – Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord…
Oh Lord, I know I don’t know myself like You do. And so even as I pray for things and people, I know that YOU are the only One Who knows what I need, how I need it, and when I need it - - - including hearing from You. Help me continue to seek and find You during this process. Help me to always look inward and not to others as my salvation (my solution) or as a scapegoat (blaming them). And remind me to “begin” by turning to You, rather than waiting til I’ve “done everything I can do” before looking to You for guidance – even in the little things. For there are no insignificant bits when all the pieces are put together.
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