A Misleading Quote

“When you're going through hard times and you wondering where is God, just remember; the teacher is always quiet during a test.”

The quote has been given to me multiple times throughout my struggles in life.  It is meant to be comforting, yet I never found anything comforting about it.  I hated hearing that in my worst time, God was going to be silent and let me figure things out on my own.  Later I did some searching, and realized that while people say this to comfort others when they can’t hear God, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

In this current trial I am going through, I have heard God more than ever before, and here is why.  I am choosing to connect with Him.  To sit at His feet and spend time with Him.  The reality of the situation is simple.  We can’t hear God most of the time simply because we are too busy staying focused on ourselves instead of looking to Him. 

The Bible says God will never leave you, nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6,8), and when I dug a little further I found a few other verses that to me debunk the truth to this saying. 

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them”.  ~Isaiah 42:16

“There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the LORD’S counsel—that will stand.”  ~Proverbs 19:21

There are also multiple times in Psalms that David, and other psalmist call out to God in their troubles, and He answers.  This was before Christ came, which means that the dynamic of the person/God relationship was different.  If God reached out to those who called out to Him in the Old Testament, wouldn’t he do the same in the New Testament and now? 

If you look at my last post about controlling emotions, you will see that one thing that was suggested to me was to serve so that my eyes were off myself, and on to others and God.  It is similar with this.  When our eyes are on ourselves, we will not hear God.  Let me rephrase that; we cannot hear God.  Because we have free will, He will allow us to try and solve our problems with worldly solutions.  However, if we turn our eyes completely on Him, He will not disappoint us.  He will meet us where we are at, and guide us through.  Just keep in mind He will usually only reveal the current step you have to take.  He won’t give you the whole picture, and that is okay.

One more thing, it is possible that He has told you exactly what to do, and you are just refusing to do so.  He isn’t going to change His mind.  Be faithful, and do as He has asked.