“God’s silence is not equivalent to God’s absence. The divine glory was on the mountain with Moses every one of those six days before Moses heard anything. Time spent in worship as you wait on God is never wasted. But as you wait, obey the will of God that you already know. Waiting on God is an active pursuit, not a passive attitude.”

-Greater Devotional by Steven Furtick

I read this quote this morning during my quiet time before work. It makes perfect sense, even from my last blog post. We always want the immediate.

Every year we go to a small costal fishing community called Rockport in Texas. I look forward to it because fishing and the quietness of it is my happy place. A couple of years ago Josiah (oldest son) caught 54 fish one night! It was amazing and so much fun. I didn’t even get a chance to fish that night because they were biting his so much. Easily top ten memory of ours and he was so proud. Unfortunately now every time we go fishing he gets frustrated because after one hour and no bites…he remembers what it was like reeling in 54. He would drop the line in the water from the pier and immediately get a fish to reel in.

How often are we like that with God? Sometimes we are in the hot dry desert looking, waiting, and even fixating on the silence. Is God ignoring me? Am I wrong asking? We want an answer now. Not later today, this week, this month, or even this year.

It’s important that we focus on our relationship with God and not the answer. He isn’t Santa Claus. And sometimes the silence is the answer. That was painful to write and even harder to live out. If you are in the desert now, know the oasis is coming if you continue to trust and have a conversation with God.