The silence of Jesus

“Jesus did not answer a word.” (Matthew 15: 23)

“He will quiet you with his love.” (Zephaniah 3: 17)

 Are you reading these verses as a child of God who is experiencing a crushing sorrow, a bitter disappointment, or a heartbreaking blow from a totally unexpected place? Are you longing to hear your Master’s voice calling you, saying, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (Matt. 14: 27)?

Yet only silence, the unknown, and misery confront you— “Jesus did not answer a word.” God’s tender heart must often ache listening to our sad, complaining cries. Our weak, impatient hearts cry out because we fail to see through our tear-blinded, shortsighted eyes that it is for our own sakes that He does not answer at all or that He answers in a way we believe is less than the best.

In fact, the silences of Jesus are as eloquent as His words and may be a sign not of His disapproval but of His approval and His way of providing a deeper blessing for you.

“Why are you downcast, O my soul? . . . I will yet praise him” (Ps. 43: 5).

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