“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” (Exodus 32:1 NIV).
One thing we have in common with the Israelites, we all follow other gods. Especially when we don’t feel like God is doing anything for us. The Israelites were waiting at the bottom of the mountain where Moses was talking to God. He was gone for 40 days. Just over a month, the Israelites were giving up on God. They’d watched Him free them from slavery, part the Red Sea and drop manna from heaven, yet they turned their backs on Him. We turn just as easily from God, probably in less time. One recent study of 800 million people found that New Year’s Resolutions will be abandoned by Jan. 19th. Only 19 days and people give up on their newfound ways. Staying the course means accepting the mundane.
Staying the Course means accepting the mundane.
Following God in our daily lives is mundane. Each morning I get up, read my Bible, and tackle my work load for the day. Within that, I get dressed, I eat meals, I do chores. Most of the things I do in a day, I don’t remember. They are the same things, day in and day out. There are some mornings when I read my Bible nothing jumps out at me. There are other days when the words I find within its pages are speaking right to my heart. But each day, I do it again. Same routine, same actions. We live in the mundane, our day-to-day lives. God teaches us in the silence of the mundane.
At this point in my life, I don’t doubt God’s presence during times of silence like I have in the past. God is often silent in our lives as we walk through our struggles. I’ve listened to stories of people who have prayed for years, are still praying for something, and God is silent. One of the wisest men I know summed it up well when talking about God’s silence:
“The only thing I can conclude from God’s silence, is that this is something He wants me to work through.” Mike Cooke
I believe He is right. When God is silent, He wants us to work through our circumstances. He wants us to learn to forgive as we work through the process of forgiveness. He wants us to learn to trust in Him as we apply His principles to our life. He wants our faith to grow as we take the next step, with Him. Even when God is silent, He is still with us. He has promised to never forsake us (Hebrews 13:5 NIV). In the mundane, God does His greatest work in us.
Question of the Day:
How has God’s silence impacted your faith?
Further Reading: Exodus 32:1-33:23 NIV, Matthew 26:69-27:14 NIV, Psalm 33:1-11 NIV, Proverbs 8:33-36