When God Speaks through Silence

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9a

Four and a half months trapped in a silent world with no hope of finding my way out. I tried to speak and no sound came out. I couldn’t whisper, couldn’t even call my husband. But God often speaks through silence.

The doctors found nothing, even with a laryngoscopy. One told me to force myself to talk normally and get over it! How’s that for encouragement and professional advice? I was losing hope.

Months passed. And God’s silence, as well as my own, dragged on. A notepad accompanied me everywhere, including the bank. My kids were away at college, so I learned to text message. E-mail was the preferred method of communication.

I had a Bible study to lead, a busy life with major commitments. Every woman in the Bible study had a chance to lead. I sat with my notepad and wrote notes if necessary. Several women discovered they possessed and undiscovered gift. We learned new ways to be vessels used by God through being emptied of ourselves. He didn’t need my voice.

God spoke through my silence, but He also spoke into my silence. I prayed like seldom before without the distraction of phones and conversations. My inner spiritual life soared. God frequently gives object lessons to make us conscious of areas where we need to grow.

Eventually God led me to a speech pathologist at our local university hospital. Her laryngoscopy revealed what no one else had seen, a condition treatable through therapy. She thought twelve weeks. I spoke the first time. God will not allow us to suffer one moment longer than necessary.

What situation in your life seems hopeless? What frightens you? Everything God allows in our lives is to be used for our benefit and His glory.

When we take our focus off the obvious and look for what God is saying, He will reveal His all-sufficient strength. Roadblocks in life are a prompting to seek God and His plans to thrive through trials and grow. When we give it to Jesus, He will never let us down.

© Copyright, Norma Gail Thurston Holtman, July 26, 2011, July 20, 2017

About the author:

Norma Gail is the author of the contemporary Christian romance, Land of My Dreams, winner of the 2016 Bookvana Religious Fiction Award. A women’s Bible study leader for over 21 years, her devotionals and poetry have appeared at ChristianDevotions.us, the Stitches Thru Time blog, and in “The Secret Place.” She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America, Historical Writers of America, and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Norma is a former RN who lives in the mountains of New Mexico with her husband of 41 years. They have two adult children.

Connect with Norma:

Website: www.normagail.org

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/Norma-Gail/e/B00ILHXBAK/

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQbZIoC_JSE

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNormaGail

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+NormaGailwrites

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/normagailth/boards/ 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7874459

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Norma_Gail

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/norma-gail-thurston-holtman/42/71a/3b2

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/normagailwrites/

Book Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Land-My-Dreams-Norma-Gail/dp/1941103170

Silence!

I’m reviewing a very different sort of book this week. Silence by Shusaku Endo. I read this novel because it happens to be required reading for my daughter’s freshman class at Wheaton College, and Martin Scorsese has made it into a movie, releasing sometime in the next several months.

The story takes place in Japan in the 1600s. WAIT! Stay with me here. I know that sounds like something you would usually skip over. But hear me out. The novel is based on the life (and letters) of a Jesuit priest from Portugal who travels to Japan to find his mentor when he hears the man denied his faith.

The time period was one of tremendous persecution for Christians in Japan. The Shoganate Government made it illegal to believe in Christianity, which resulted in hidden Christian communities. The government officials raided homes looking for Christian items, rooting out people of faith. The bodies of martyrs multiplied, so they instead began to torture the Christians until they “apostatized.” This involved stepping on an image of Christ.

If a tortured Christian agreed to trample his Savior, they would immediately stop the torture and let him go. Priests who they captured, were never let go. They were tortured until they apostatized, and then never allowed to leave the country, or interact with its people. 

Silence plumbs the depths of pride, persecution, betrayal, the suffering Savior, and apostasy – something most Christians are guilty of in one way or another. And then there is grace. The priest arrogantly contemplates himself as a Christ-type through much of the book, but in the end, he finds another comparison.

The story brings up a universal question: When things go wrong, when evil seems to prevail, when God’s loved ones are harmed, tortured and killed, why does God not act? Why is He silent? Endo explained how his book addresses the question. “I did not write a book about the Silence of God; I wrote a book about the Voice of God speaking through suffering and silence.”

The book starts a bit slow, to catch the reader up on the historical context. But soon, it picks up and depicts very flawed people locked in a struggle with belief, God, self, and service. The imagery and detail-especially references to light and dark, sound and silence-is breathtaking. A worthy read – especially if you plan to see the movie!

Silence is not an easy book, but I'd venture to say it's one of those "good for you books." What’s the most difficult book you’ve read that you look back on and say, “I’m SO glad I read that!”?? Leave us a comment to be entered to win this week’s prize!