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Silence Is Not Absence · Fostering Faith

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  Welcome back to Fostering Faith. We are going
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  to begin a new series for this October and we
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  are calling it When God Feels Silent. And so
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  what are we going to be talking about in this
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  series? What we are going to do is just answer
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  some things that doesn't have any real clear
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  answers. What do you do whenever we pray and
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  we hear no answers? In this four -week episode,
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  we're going to be talking about the honest ache
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  of spiritual silence without offering shallow
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  explanations through the Psalms, Habakkuk, Elijah,
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  the Cross, the story of Lazarus. Listeners, I
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  hope that you learn how to lament honestly, wait
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  faithfully, discern humbly, and trust God in
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  the silence. in the same as His absence. And
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  so we're going to be talking about silence is
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  not absence, waiting without losing heart. And
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  whenever you cannot hear, hold on to what you
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  know. The God who meets you in the dark. And
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  our anchor scripture is going to be Psalm 62,
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  five through six. Rest in the Lord. Rest in God
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  alone my soul for my hope comes from him. He
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  alone is my rock my salvation my stronghold I
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  will not be shaken and so in episode 1 we're
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  gonna be calling this silence is not absence
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  and so God May feel silent and it's easy to assume
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  he stepped away. He stopped caring He rejected
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  us and so we're gonna be looking at Psalm 13
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  Job and some hidden years of Jesus to separate
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  God's silence from His absence. And this honest
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  conversation is for lament, correcting harmful
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  assumptions, and gives you some simple, practical
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  ideas of staying present to God when answers
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  do not come. And so welcome back to Fostering
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  Faith. I am going to be your host Tracy, and
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  I am so grateful that you chose to spend time
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  with us today. And so this month we're going
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  to be entering a conversation many believers
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  experience, but do not always feel safe enough
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  to name. Our October series is called When God
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  Feels Silent, Faith in the Waiting. And so maybe
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  you've prayed about a situation for months. Maybe
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  you have asked God for direction and every option
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  still is unclear. Maybe you've opened your Bible
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  hoping for a verse to just settle your heart,
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  but the words felt flat. And maybe you've watched
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  someone else celebrate the answered prayers while
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  yours seemed to disappear into the ceiling. And
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  somewhere in the waiting, a painful question
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  begins to grow. God, where are you? And if that's
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  where you're at today, I don't want you to rush
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  past that. I don't want you to hand you a slogan
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  and call it comfort. Silence can hurt. Waiting
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  can wear down the strongest person, and unanswered
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  prayers can stir up fear, disappointment, anger
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  and confusion, and even shame. But here's the
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  truth. We're going to be walking and getting
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  a hold of this month. God's silence is not the
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  same as God's absence. And our anchor passage
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  is Psalm 62 .5. And through So David was not
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  pretending that there was no trouble. He is speaking
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  to his own soul in the middle of it. He does
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  not say his hope comes from having all the information.
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  His hope comes from God. And so let's pray. Dear
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  Heavenly Father, thank you so much for today.
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  Thank you so much for yesterday. Thank you so
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  much for these listeners. Meet us in this place
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  where we're at, where we feel like you're far
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  away. Give us courage to tell you the truth about
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  our waiting. Quiet the voices that say that we've
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  been forgotten. Help us listen without forcing
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  an answer and trust without pretending the pain
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  is real. Make this a safe place for disappointment,
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  the weary and the unsure. We pray this in Jesus'
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  name. Amen. And so the Bible does not hide the
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  question. Sometimes church culture gives us an
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  impression that mature faith never asks God where
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  He is. But scripture tells us a different story.
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  Psalm 13 begins, how long Lord, will you forget
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  me forever? How long will you hide your face
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  from me? Psalm 22 begins, my God, my God, why
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  have you abandoned me? Habakkuk. ask how long
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  he should call for help before God listens. And
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  Job searches for God and cannot perceive him.
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  These words are not outside the Bible. God chose
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  to place them inside of it. And that means honest
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  questions are not automatically rebellion. A
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  question can be an act of faith when we bring
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  it to God instead of using it for reason to walk
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  away. Lament is what happens when pain keeps
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  talking to God. And we have Psalm 13 moves through
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  this pattern. And so look at that. And so David
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  asked, how long? He names what the silence is
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  doing inside of him. He asked God to look in
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  the answer and he remembers God's faithful love
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  and chooses to sing. Notice the remembrance does
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  not erase the question. David's circumstances
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  did not change between the first line and the
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  last line. What changes is where he places the
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  weight of his soul. Biblical lament makes room
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  for two truths at once. This hurts and God is
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  still faithful. I do not understand, but I still
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  turn towards him. I feel forgotten, but I will
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  remember what is true. So you right now, do you
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  not have anything to look back on and say that
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  he is faithful, that he is still with you? And
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  that you remember what scripture said is true.
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  You do not have to deny the first truth to hold
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  on to the second one. And so silence is not a
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  verdict. And so when God feels quiet, we often
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  feel that silence with our own conclusions, with
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  our own conversations, because we as a society
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  have a problem with being quiet. And we want
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  answers now and we want packages before we even
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  hit the board and sinned. And so maybe God's
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  disappointed in me. Maybe I missed my chance.
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  Maybe I didn't pray correctly. Maybe I didn't
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  use enough words. Maybe I didn't use and pray
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  long enough. Maybe I didn't fast long enough.
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  Maybe I didn't have enough faith. Maybe has answered
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  people because they matter more. But a feeling
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  is not a verdict, and silence does not give us
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  permission to invite God's attitude towards us.
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  And for those who are in Christ, the cross has
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  already spoken about God's love. Romans 8 says
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  that God did not spare his own son, but gave
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  him up for all of us. The same chapter says nothing
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  can separate us from the love of God and Christ
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  Jesus. And when the circumstances are unclear,
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  return to what God had made clear in Christ.
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  You are not loved because every prayer is answered
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  on a perfect timeline. You are loved because
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  God set His love on you and Jesus gave Him self
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  for you. This does not mean every desired outcome
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  is guaranteed. Faith is not technical for controlling
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  God. It means that whatever the outcome is, God's
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  children are not abandoned to be alone. And sometimes
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  silence is connected to sin. that we need to
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  confess and scripture invites us to talk to God
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  to search our hearts and please do that please
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  do that please please please and he will just
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  illuminate all the things and i mean it literally
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  is so good like going for like long runs or just
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  going out for a walk and just being in outside
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  in nature is i love doing that Search my heart
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  like, you know, you need to tell me and like
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  he will just bring up so many things but it's
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  just you and him Like no distractions except
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  for like his beauty and the skies and the clouds
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  and like whatever animal he puts in front of
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  you but so so good just sit with him just Nothing
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  really around just like have that time on the
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  road on the treadmill like you know in the gym
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  and Whenever your circumstances are unclear return
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  to what God made clear in Christ You are not
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  loved because of something You are love because
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  He is love. And this does not mean that every
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  desired outcome is guaranteed. Like I said before,
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  sometimes silence is connected to sin that we
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  need to confess. And that's great that you need
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  to do that. But we should not assume that every
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  quiet session is punishment. And so Job's friends
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  make the mistake. They saw suffering and built
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  a simple explanation. Job, well, you must have
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  done something to deserve it. God later corrected
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  them. But be careful of explanations that protect
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  your need for certainty, but misrepresent the
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  heart of God. And so we have all that Christianese,
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  well, you didn't have enough faith. Oh, well,
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  you didn't have this and you didn't do this and
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  you didn't do this. We are not pleasing God.
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  He loves us no matter what we've done or how
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  we do it. He loves us. There's nothing that you're
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  going to do to change his mind. He is impassable.
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  And so hidden does not mean inactive. The Bible
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  contains long stretches where God appears quiet,
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  and yet his purpose continues. Joseph receives
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  a dream as a young man, but years later, through
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  slavery and prison, before those dreams make
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  sense, Israel waits generations for deliverance
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  from Egypt. Between the Old Testament prophet
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  and the public ministry of John the Baptist,
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  centuries pass without a new prophetic book.
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  Jesus lives roughly 30 years before beginning
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  his public ministry that lasts only a few years.
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  We know very little about those hidden years,
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  but hidden didn't mean wasted. Jesus was not
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  behind. The Father was not absent. Preparation
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  was taking place behind and beyond public view.
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  There are seasons when God is doing the work
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  in us that we cannot measure. He may be exposing
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  what we learned on besides him, he may be developing
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  patience, deepening compassion, redirecting desire,
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  closing a harmful door, rearranging circumstances
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  that we cannot see. We should speak about that
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  with humility. We cannot claim to know the secret
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  random reason behind every delay. Some mysteries
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  remain mysteries, but we can say this. For sure,
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  God is not limited to the work we can currently
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  recognize. A seed beneath the soil looks inactive,
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  but if you only judge it by the surface, roots
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  can be forming where no one sees. And when your
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  nervous system is tired, spiritual silence is
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  not always a theological experience, sometimes
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  grief, depression, anxiety, trauma, exhaustion,
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  a physical illness can make something feel distant,
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  including God. And if prayer feels impossible,
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  it does not necessarily mean that you are failing
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  spiritually. You may be depleted. You may need
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  sleep, medical care, counseling, support, a help,
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  caring responsibilities that you have because
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  you're too weary and it's too heavy. God's care
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  can reach through the ordinary means of a therapist,
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  a provider, a pastor, a meal from a friend, medication
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  responsibly prescribed, a walk or a night of
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  rest. Seeking help is not a betrayal of faith.
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  And if you are in danger of harming yourself
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  or cannot stay safe, please reach out Amelia
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  to emergency services or a crisis resource where
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  you live. Tell a trusted friend, a person who
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  can remain with you. You do not have to carry
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  this moment alone. A practice for this week.
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  Tell, ask, remember, and rest. This week, I'm
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  going to give you some simple ways to pray whenever
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  you do not know how and what to say. Tell God
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  what is true. Name the situation and the emotion
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  without clearing it up. God, I am disappointed.
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  I am angry. I am afraid. You are not going to
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  come through. I am tired of waiting. You know
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  what? None of that was a surprise. He knows what
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  you're feeling, but he's just waiting on you
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  to tell him. He's a big God and he can handle
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  your big problems. Ask for what you need and
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  be specific asking for healing, direction, provision,
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  reconciliation, courage, or peace. Honest surrender
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  does not require a vague prayer don't like we
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  I think that looks like a christianese thing
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  is like we oh we have like all these kind of
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  like really big circley like kind of prayers
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  and so therefore we don't get disappointed whenever
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  he doesn't answer specifically what we said and
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  it is like he hears it all now whether you know
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  like you align your thoughts with god's thoughts
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  that's between your eyes relationship And so
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  remember what God has already revealed. Write
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  down one truth about His character, one way He
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  has been faithful before, and one promise that
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  He's actually given in Scripture. And then rest
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  without demanding an instant feeling. Sit quietly
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  for two minutes. You're not trying to make God
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  speak. You are practicing being with Him. In
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  the silence, all you do is perceive and let your
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  presence become a prayer. God, I'm here. And
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  so here's your reflection question for this week.
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  What conclusion have you drawn from God's silence?
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  What is the conclusion supported by scripture
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  or driven by fear? What do you need to tell God
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  honestly? And what truth about His character
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  can you hold onto for today? And so let us pray.
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  Heavenly Father, we confess our silence frightens
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  us. We want clarity. We want relief. We want
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  a timeline. Whenever we don't receive them, we
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  create explanations that make us feel rejected
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  and forgotten. Bring us back to the cross, where
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  your love has been made clear. Teach us to lament
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  without walking away. Ask to ask without performance,
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  to rest without pretending. to care for the weary
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  listener in their body and mind and spirit. Remind
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  us that hidden does not mean inactive or silent
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  and that does not take away and mean absence.
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  Hold on to us whenever we cannot hold ourselves.
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  We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. I hope this
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  message encouraged you. If this lesson inspired
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  you, if you know someone that needs it, please
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  share it. If this episode gave you something
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  that you're caring, share it with somebody. Follow
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  Fostering Faith. Visit our website, Fostering
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  Faith Media, for companion and reflection resources.
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  You can print them out, do a small group. It
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  should be small group season. And until next
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  week, we're going to be talking about how to
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  wait without losing heart. When the question
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  is answered in a delay, or we think it's a delay,
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  until then, keep turning towards God, even if
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  it is all you can do is pray, here I am. We love
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  you guys. Have a great week.