“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJ
A few weeks ago I traveled unfamiliar back roads to a workshop I was to lead in a small town. I plugged my cell phone into the car jack and gave the GPS app the address of my destination. The sweet, monotone, electronic female voice began to speak. Step by step, it told me when and where to turn or change direction. It even gave me a warning ahead of time. “In 1000 feet you will turn left onto Main Street.” When I approached, it repeated, “Turn left onto Main Street.” Then it would give me the next direction coming up.
I made it through town, and got to a state highway where farmlands stretched out ahead. The voice said, “In 28 miles turn left onto County Road 234.” Then silence. After almost fifteen minutes of listening to commands, the GPS voice became eerily quiet. It had said all it needed to for the next half hour. To ease the strange feeling of loss, I turned on the radio and tuned it to a Christian station.
Then it hit me. How often in my life has God been silent? I have experienced an uneasy feeling then as well. I ask myself, “Why is He no longer speaking to me? What have I done wrong? Is He mad at me? Have I sinned and not confessed it?”
During that period of silence I did the same thing as I did in my car. I turned to Christian music, the Bible and prayer to keep me going. I needed assurance that my faith was still on track. For me, silence is not so golden.
God’s Word gives me directional guidance, as does the Holy Spirit. Perhaps in times of uncomfortable silence, God, like my little GPS on my phone, has simply said all He needs to say until it is once again time for me to change directions. The silence is a test of faith. Will I continue down the road He has led me, or get frustrated and veer off onto another path to try and find my own way? Luckily, if I do, like my GPS provides new information to lead me back onto the right roads, God gives me new directions back to Him. Like my GPS app, I must choose whether to follow or not.
The proverb verse reminds me that we are to trust God and lean not own our own understanding. I trusted that GPS app on my cell phone to keep me on the right roads to my destination. Should I not do the same with God’s Protective Spirit (my spiritual GPS) on this road called life?
Questions – Do you feel God is being silent right now? Do you recall His last directional command?
