Louie Giglio - When God is Silent
I don’t know about you, but now and then we find ourselves in dark seasons of life. Has anyone ever experienced a dark season? I don’t mean a half hour; I mean when you somehow sank into darkness and didn’t know which way was up. I remember when I was in college, my parents allowed me to take our family car and drive across the nation for a few weeks with my buddy Johnny. We camped in national parks across America, all the way to the West Coast and up into Northwest America and Canada. The day we arrived at the Grand Canyon was mind-blowing.
Has anybody been to the Grand Canyon? I don’t know if you’re like me, but simply standing there and looking at it wasn’t enough for me—I wanted to go down into it. However, we hadn’t made plans; we didn’t have reservations, and we couldn’t get into the campsite at the bottom. They said, «Well, you can hike down and back in a day, but you can’t spend the night. We don’t recommend that because you’ll probably die; it’s 115 degrees on the way down, and you’ll have to come back up.» So we asked, «What can we do?» A kind person working at the park suggested, «Well, the only option I see is to go down at night while you’re in school and come out during the daytime.» That sounded like a great plan.
So at midnight, Johnny and I started down the Bright Angel Trail. It wasn’t too bright; we didn’t see any angels, and it looked a little scary, but we pressed on. For hours, we tackled the switchbacks in silence, not talking much, only hearing the wild donkeys snorting and pawing the ground as if they would trample us at any moment. We kept moving, even though we couldn’t see them.
As time passed—an hour, then two, then three, then four—we finally reached the bottom of the Grand Canyon—a mile deep in the Earth. I had never seen darkness like the darkness a mile deep in the earth; there was no light from any earthly source. We arrived and could hear the Colorado River trickling by, but it was just dark. Have you ever been in that place? I knew how we got into that darkness; we chose to start at midnight into a canyon. But there are other times in life when you don’t know how you arrived in darkness. Suddenly, you can’t feel God, can’t hear Him, can’t see Him, and you’re not convinced that He can see or hear you. You start to wonder if God is there, and if He is, does He even care? Has anyone experienced a dark season like that? That’s what I want to address today.
I want to talk about this idea: when God is silent or seems silent, where do we turn, and what do we do? There was a time in the history of our faith like this; it’s that one big page turn between the Old Testament and the New Testament. It goes quickly—Malachi, the last prophet of the Old Testament, and then you turn the page and, in my Bible, you get a header for the New Testament. So you get a free page there, and as soon as you turn it, you’re at the Gospel of Matthew—less than a second from the end of the last prophet in the Old Testament to the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, which contains some of the greatest news humanity has ever received. But most of you know that in history, that page turn lasts 400 years—from 430 BC to 5 BC. That’s the amount of time that passed from Malachi to Matthew, and during that time, there is no recorded word from God—no recorded prophet, promise, or voice. This intertestamental period (that’s the theological term for it) was 400 years of silence. We have no record of God talking to His people.
That’s not like God, because when the Scriptures open to us in Genesis 1, it says nine times, «And God said.» «And God said, let there be light.» God spoke, and continued to do so throughout the Old Testament—whether it was Moses at the burning bush or the prophet Isaiah bringing God’s word to His people. God was speaking, and then suddenly, there was radio silence from heaven.
Maybe you’re in that place today. This word is for all of us because we all end up in seasons where we feel that God has nothing to say. Perhaps you’re in that season right now. I don’t know how you got there, but I suspect a few things can factor into it. You may have slowly and subtly moved away from God. It’s like the shepherd who had a hundred sheep, and one got lost. That sheep didn’t start a protest against the shepherd; it just slowly drifted away, slightly and gradually separating from the flock. Maybe that’s where you are today—you didn’t make a big declaration at any point; you didn’t post a tweet saying, «Just letting everyone know I’m walking away from God.» But slowly and subtly, over time, you found yourself in a dark place, unsure of where God is anymore and if He’s speaking to your life.
It could be that you’re in the darkness because God’s testing you. Perhaps He allowed you to drift into darkness to see if your faith is as strong as you think it is; to see if you’ll lean into Him and seek Him, even when you can’t feel or see Him. Maybe you fell into darkness because you tuned God out, and He decided to stop talking. Married people know what this is like, right? You know, someone is talking and talking while the other person is not listening, watching TV, occasionally replying with «uh-huh, uh-huh.» Eventually, the speaking party may think, «There’s no point in this; I’m just going to stop.» Maybe you did that; maybe you tuned God out, and He then said, «Okay, I’ll stop talking until I can get your attention.»
Or it could be, and I think this is probably the more likely situation between Malachi and Matthew, that you directly disobeyed what God asked you to do, and He decided to stop talking. More importantly, your disobedience may have calloused your heart, making it impossible for you to hear Him even when He is talking. That’s the scariest place to be in life. Ephesians 4:19 talks about this: «In having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity.» Maybe that has happened to you as well.
I know that Malachi is coming in hot. If you read these four chapters of this last prophecy, God is really at the tipping point with His people. He has been pointing them toward life, encouraging them to make right decisions, and reminding them that they are His people, but they’re not getting it. They refuse God’s direction and choose to do things their own way. Eventually, God says, «You know what? If you’re going to live like that, then I’m going to let you.» Isn’t that a scary thought? «If you’re going to do it your way, guess what? I’m going to let you do it your way for the next 400 years, and we’ll see how that goes.»
It may be that you’re in darkness because you became distracted by other noise. Many of us end up in darkness due to pain and loss in our lives. Do you know what I’m talking about? Something happens, and the pain or loss causes us to create a separation from God. We wonder, «Why did God do this? Where is God in this? Is God even here? If God is so great, how can this be the situation we’re in?» Sometimes that little gap grows into a chasm of grief, forming a substantial distance between us and God, turning into 400 years of silence in our own lives.
I would guess that at some point, someone started asking the question that maybe you’re asking today: Has God given up on us? Maybe after a hundred years, someone had the courage to say, «Do you think He’s just given up on us?» Perhaps you’re thinking that today: Has God given up on me? I just want to encourage you today: The answer to that question is no. God has not given up on you.
You might ask, «How can you say that?» Because I have the story of God’s faithfulness in my hands. Even after 400 years, He still had a plan for His people. When you turn the page, you’re in Matthew, but Matthew starts with this genealogy of Jesus, leading us to the birth of Christ. If you turn to Luke’s Gospel, you get a fuller understanding of what happened when the silence of 400 years was broken. I want to read part of this story for you. I want to read a lot, actually. It’s the account of the birth of John the Baptist, where the silence was broken. It begins with John the Baptist’s father and his mother, Zechariah and Elizabeth.
Let me read it for you. We’re not going to put it on the screen because it’s a lot of text, but just picture storytime, kids, from God’s word—a phenomenal and amazing account.
«In 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. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.» Notice that there has been no word from God for four centuries, yet Elizabeth and Zechariah were observing all the commandments and regulations blamelessly; they were upright in the sight of the Lord. They were hanging in there with God even though no one had heard from Him.
But here’s the hard part of their story: They had no children because Elizabeth was barren and they were both well along in years. They were in generational silence, but they were also in their personal silence; they had been praying, seeking, and hoping from God, yet nothing had happened.
Verse 8 says, «Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as a priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense. When the time for burning of the incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and gripped with fear. But 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 give him the name John. He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for 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 from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. He will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.'
Zechariah asked the angel, 'How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.' The angel answered, '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. And 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 proper time.' Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When 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.»
When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. '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.'
When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. On the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah. But his mother spoke up and said, 'No! He is to be called John.' They said to her, 'There’s no one among your relatives who has that name.' Then they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment, he wrote, 'His name is John.'
Immediately, his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea, people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, 'What then is this child going to be? ' For the Lord’s hand was with him, and his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied in song.»
When the 400-year silence broke, Gabriel appeared and spoke to Zechariah, fulfilling what Malachi had foretold. So what do you do if you’re in the silence? A few things:
Number one, walk by faith and not by feelings. Second Corinthians 5:7 says, «For we live by faith, not by sight.» So if you can’t see or feel God, and you’re not sure He’s in the equation, that’s the moment you walk by faith. I love that when the angel arrived, he found Elizabeth and Zechariah upright in their lives, honoring God’s ways and living in the promises of His Word. They were walking by faith and not by sight; they were still on track with God even though all the markers suggested they should bail out.
I’m telling you, we are a generation walking by feelings instead of faith. We get our clues from how we feel, from what we read, from the vibes around us, and then interpret those cues as confidence in God, rather than seeking our confidence from God and His faithfulness in the past.
That phrase «I’m just not feeling it"—fantastic! That’s great; I admit it, let’s be honest about it. But not feeling it is a prelude to saying, «But I will continue to pursue God faithfully, even if I don’t feel it.» There’s nothing in this Word that says our faith has to be corroborated by our feelings, but everything in this Word says our feelings will be informed by our faith.
The second thing in darkness is to reorient, and we do that by the Word of God. Darkness disorients us; we don’t know which way is up and if we are up or down. We need to reorient according to the Word of God. We launched a rocket this week. When I say «we,» I mean we paid for it. A big rocket—the Artemis mission.
Please tell me, Passion City Church, that you know about Artemis! Can I get an amen on Artemis? Okay, a few people. We’re on a mission to the moon! I know some of you don’t believe we ever went on the first mission to the moon, and we’re praying for you and trusting God will give you understanding or lead you to another church home. But we’re on a new mission to the moon! So Artemis launched the Orion spacecraft on its journey; it’s about halfway to the moon now, scheduled to loop around the moon and come back to Earth. Within a few years, we will send people to loop around the moon and then send them to the moon itself.
This will happen in the next few years! The spacecraft is on its way, and it’s being communicated with by mission controllers to check if it’s doing okay. It’s taking photos, inspecting itself with cameras, and everything is in good shape based on the information we’re receiving. But they wanted to know if the spacecraft was oriented correctly in space; is it in the right position to make this journey effectively?
It has onboard an anomalous star tracker data system. This uses star-tracking cameras to photograph the sky around the spacecraft and then compares those photos with a map of the starry sky in its database, immediately determining the spacecraft’s position. It can then use thrusters to reorient itself into the right position for its journey.
Some of you don’t know if you’re right side up or upside down right now; you cannot tell whether you’re in the position to get to where God wants you to go. You can’t see, so you don’t know. Well, God’s Word is the internal mapping system that allows us to look around our lives and say, «Okay, I need to adjust this. I need to orient to God’s truth.»
I’ve got all kinds of crazy thoughts running through my mind right now; I need to get my mind centered on the Word of God. I’ve lost hope in God’s plans, so I need to realign myself with His Word. I’ve come up with all my own scenarios about how this will work; I need to reorient my mind around God’s truth.
The third thing I would encourage you to do if you feel like you’re in a dark place is stay connected to believing people. These dark seasons tend to push us out of community, but in dark seasons, we need community more than ever. This is church; we’re not all okay all the time. Can I get an amen? We don’t always have the most significant faith days. Sometimes we feel overconfident in God, and other days we find ourselves in that dark pit, wondering if God is even real.
This is why it’s crucial to come as you are! If you’re feeling low, you may be surrounded by others who are feeling high, and vice versa. If you’re experiencing the strength of God’s Spirit, fantastic! Maybe you’ll be sitting with someone who needs to get on your boat. This is church, and we are meant to be here for each other.
I love this small footnote in the story. When Zechariah’s division was on duty, he was serving as a priest before God. The whole company of priests was connected; it was their turn to serve. Zechariah was still in church because his community was in church that day, even though he was in a dark season—both generationally and personally.
So become a door holder at Passion City Church, and keep showing up with your team, whether you’re feeling on top or down. Keep showing up with the people of God. Join a connect group, surround yourself with believing people—they’re the people you need in the dark season of life.
The fourth thing is if you’re in that season, I encourage you to worship God in the dark. You might think, «Well, that doesn’t make sense!» However, you can worship Him like Zechariah did. Once he realized, «Oh, we’re having a boy!» and his son was born, the angel told him God had done something amazing. Once his mouth opened, his first instinct was to praise God.
But notice that Zechariah didn’t just erupt in praise the moment he got his voice back; he was worshipping even before the angel’s arrival. When God broke 400 years of silence, He found Zechariah at the altar, burning incense of worship to God. His incense of worship was rising to God in the midst of 400 years of silence.
Zechariah’s name means «The Lord remembers,» and God wants you to hear that today—God remembers you. He hasn’t forgotten your story, your promises, or the plans He has for your life. However, what I love about this text is that not only does God remember Zechariah, but Zechariah also remembers God.
Zechariah remembers Yahweh. He didn’t forget about God, even though no one heard from Him for 400 years; he still remembered the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. That same God is your God. Do you remember Him today? Are you aware that your God is the God who delivered, saved, and promised, even during the 400 years of silence?
Today, you can offer incense of worship, even in silence. Why? Because worshipping Him in silence will provide a song, breaking the quiet. You can either say, «I don’t know where God is; I don’t hear anything. I’m in the dark,» or you can light a fire, offering incense to God with your voice, saying, «God, I don’t know where you are or what you’re doing, but I know you’re a good God. Therefore, in the silence, I’ll offer worship and incense to you.»
Number five: believe in hope. You have to trust that what God has said, He will do. Anyone believe that today? I can’t see it; it doesn’t add up, but I believe God will fulfill what He has promised. In Malachi, He said a couple of specific things. I love this: chapter 3, verse 1 states, «See, I will send my messenger who will prepare the way before me.»
Isn’t that heavy? That’s the last verse before the radio silence. God says, «I’ll send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord, and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers.»
Then we turn the page, and Gabriel shows up. Gabriel, who stands in God’s presence, knows the assignment: «Zechariah will be in the temple worshipping, offering incense. And what’s the message you have? You’ve heard his prayer, and you’re going to answer it with a son.»
Oh! But this isn’t just any son. This son will be special! Zechariah is like, «Okay, okay, and what’s he going to do? Wow! I hope he’s ready for this assignment!» The angel introduces himself, saying, «My name is Gabriel; I was just in God’s presence. I have a word for you! If God brings you a word today, say thank you. Don’t say, 'I don’t know how that’s going to happen' because the next thing you know, for the next nine months, you’ll be making hand gestures and drawing pictures!»
If God brings you a word today, say thank you! «He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. Many of the people of Israel he will bring back to the Lord their God.»
He will prepare the way for Jesus, announcing the coming salvation. Your son will be John the Baptist, an amazing figure who will be preached about thousands of years from now. Not only will you get what you want, but you’ll get even more than you imagined.
You have a choice today! I’m not minimizing the darkness, but you have a choice. The last thing is to press into the silence. Don’t despise it; don’t try to figure it out. Just press into it, listening for God’s voice. There are few prayers more powerful than, «God, I don’t know where you are or what you’re doing, but I want to hear your voice, and I’m listening.»
We got down to the bottom of that trail, where it’s odd to be a mile deep in a crevice. We decided to sleep for an hour or so until the sun came up. We laid down on the sandy beach, right where the Colorado River made a big turn. While focused on every step, we now looked up, and oh my word, it was as if I could reach out and pluck a star out of the sky—it was so dark, yet the stars were so bright!
I believe, based on God’s Word and my journeys through dark nights of the soul, that there is a Gabriel coming, and the darkest silence will make God’s promise brighter than you’ve ever seen it before. Maybe it’s time you change your gaze from ensuring you can make every step to just looking up and seeing, «Wow! God’s goodness, mercy, promise, and hope—they’re brighter than I’ve ever seen them before!» Thank you, God, for lifting my gaze upward!
I want to call you today, all of us today, to worship—not only when God comes through (and He is coming through), but to worship Him now! If you’re in pain, loss, death, or hardship, surrounded by a situation blocking you from feeling anything, today, you can still lift your incense to heaven and release a song of praise, even if it’s just a Hallelujah. If that’s all you can manage, then give a Hallelujah today, and watch it transform your heart amidst the silence.
Or perhaps you disobeyed God. Today is about repentance, recognizing, «No wonder I haven’t heard from God; the last time He spoke, I did the exact opposite of what He asked.» Now He’s just letting me go with it.
Or maybe you’ve simply drifted away. However, I am telling you today that there’s power in turning our hearts back towards God. Even the slightest adjustment can light an incense of worship, bridges formed even in the darkest day. I assure you that if even a few voices in our house today, singing from the valley low, released a song of praise, all of heaven would lean in and rejoice at their faithfulness, just as God is rejoicing over you.