So the Word became human and made his home among us.
John 1:14 (NLT)
Silence can be good. It can also be worrisome, especially if you have three rambunctious little boys in the house. I remember one particular incident when my sons were playing a game of cops and robbers. The noisy gang suddenly went noticeably quiet. When I went to check on them, I discovered our oldest son drawing a black mask on his brother’s face with a marker.
God’s silence was also unsettling to the Jews. Four hundred years passed between Malachi’s prediction and John the Baptist’s preaching. Four hundred years without any communication from God. Four hundred years of watching and waiting. Surely it seemed God had abandoned them. Yet during those years of silence, God was at work, preparing the way for His one and only Son to enter a world filled with sin and darkness.
It’s a natural tendency to mistake God’s silence for inactivity. When we pray and fail to hear an answer, we are tempted to believe God doesn’t care, that He’s wandered off, or He doesn’t care. Nothing could be further from the truth. God works some of His most powerful deeds in the wake of His ‘silence.’
Four hundred years of silence – God’s silence finally broken with one powerful Word; Jesus, the Word made flesh.
Thought: “When God is silent, He is not still. God does some of His best work in the dark. Trust Him – He’s there.” – Tony Evans
For further reading:
- Isaiah 7:14
- John 1:1-5
- 1 John 1:1
- Revelation 19:13