Faithful in the face of His silence? How?

Over the past 14 or so years, the one question that has preoccupied my mind over and above my other daily concerns has been how the saints of old managed to remain faithful to God in the face of His seeming silence.

My concern had risen largely out of my curiosity about how folks with such sound theology and holy lives as Job and Joseph would want to abide in Him, the terrifying drama in and around their lives notwithstanding.

That young Daniel would become an epitome of faith, humility and spirituality among the difficult Chaldeans further intrigued me.

I have read fairly widely and asked every Christian who has cared to listen for a possible explanation, and I have come out much the humbled by how many have grown in their vision of God regarding this vexing question.

Perhaps nothing (for me at least) captures better these varied yet united responses than these powerful words from one of the persons whom God has over the years used to steady me in my walk with Him (excerpts):

“…Sometimes I get in the way because I want to fix things where I can. At times God has had to tell me to get out of the way so that He can work…I do know that when God is silent it’s because He can trust you with His silence. Do not be discouraged. Do not be dismayed. The Lord our God is mighty. He is so awesome. His works are too numerous to count. He has been faithful to us. He is not a respector of persons. He will be faithful…He can be nothing else….”

*****

In my final year at the university, I was part of a group of students that hosted one of Kenya’s leading editors for some chat on the future of journalism in Kenya and East Africa.

I now see the sense in what he said about the need to insist on human-interest stories so as to survive in the Kenyan market…for this one post has generated the highest traffic on my site ever since it went up…with interest in it mounting by the day.

It’s high time a book about poor Jesse also rolled off the presses 🙂