When God is Silent

November 20, 2022

Do you ever feel like God is silent? Louie Giglio looks to the 400 years that God was quiet in the Bible, teaching that we can have a posture of worship and trust that God is going to come through on His promises despite our ability not to hear Him.

Key Takeaway

God has a plan. His promises are still true. He is still with you in the in-between. The invitation for us is to worship Him even in the middle of the silence.

Why does it seem like God is silent?:

We slowly and slightly move away from God.

Because God is testing you.

We tune God out, so He stops speaking.

We disobey God, and our hearts become calloused to His voice.

We got distracted by other noises.

A painful loss created a chasm of grief.

Discussion Questions

Where is the darkest place -physically speaking – you have ever been (a cave, rural area, etc.)?
Before getting into moments where God seems to be silent, let’s answer a question about general silence. How do you respond to moments of silence and solitude? Do you prefer them or get anxious and feel the need to fill them with people and noise?
How is silence – in moderation - good for us?
Is it possible to determine which of the six reasons for silence is the reason you or someone else is experiencing silence?

Scripture References

5In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.

6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.

7But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

8Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,

9he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

10And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

11Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

12When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.

13But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.

14He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,

15for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.

16He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God.

17And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

18Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

19The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.

20And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

21Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple.

22When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

23When his time of service was completed, he returned home.

24After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.

25“The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

7For we live by faith, not by sight.

19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

5“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the

Lord

comes.

6He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

1“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the

Lord

Almighty.

57When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.

58Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

59On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah,

60but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

61They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

62Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.

63He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”

64Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.

65All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.

66Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

67His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

Louie Giglio

Louie Giglio is the Visionary Architect and Director of the Passion Movement, comprised of Passion Conferences, Passion City Church, Passion Publishing and sixstepsrecords, and the founder of Passion Institute.