When God Is Quiet

Ok boys and girls...gather round. Teeth brushed? Got your pj's on? Got that final drink of water? Ok sit down and Pat will tell you a story...a true story about when God is quiet.

Back in late 2007 I knew the time was near and that God was leading me back into the senior pastorate. I loved being a missions pastor in Baton Rouge and was quite content with teaching our Bible fellowship class of 60 adults on Sunday morning. I was 9 months away from finishing my MBA in church admin from California Baptist University. We had just come through a horrendous hurricane called Katrina and had worked with our great pastoral staff and wonderful volunteers as I oversaw the the relief work for 18 months working directly under our senior pastor. That is another story for another time...

Carol and I began praying and seeking God...the desire to pastor became stronger and stronger. I finished my MBA and Carol was busy selling real estate post-Katrina and she taught volunteered with a team each week in the nearby women's prison. We waited...waited...prayed....and waited. God got quieter...and soon was downright silent with us. So, we prayed some more...and waited some more all the while God was quiet...not even so much as a divine grunt!

The quieter He was the louder I became...praying, asking out loud where was He. Getting frustrated even angry. All the while I was sending out resumes and friends were recommending me to some pretty cool churches in great locales. Nights on realtor.com looking at housing in places like Washington DC (that was depressing for what we could afford there...a plastic porta-toilet like you see at the fair), Virginia, Texas, Georgia, and places in-between. I perused the pastor search pages on-line every Monday...without fail.

In March of 2008 in the midst of a spiritually dry time...I mean Sahara dry time I took a Saturday morning and checked into a local hotel with my Bible and I was not going to leave there till I heard from God!
We were 9-10 months into seeking a church with God being as quiet as an Ol' Miss fan sitting in the LSU stands at a football game! I sat on the bed with my Bible open. I intended to begin at Habakkuk 3:17 which says, "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19 GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places."


I wanted God to know that I loved Him and that I did not want to be a fair-weather friend with Him. I would love Him and serve Him in the dryest of days, yet I also wanted to hear from Him! He did not have to tell me where Carol and I would be going, or even when....just that He had me and that He had plans and a place for us to pastor.


Just like God to send me to another scripture nearby "by mistake." I actually turned to Zephaniah 3:17 which says,"Do not fear; Zion, do not let your hands grow weak. 17 The Lord your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring [you] quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy." 


WOW!! That jumped out at me at 500 mph...and my heart grew peaceful for the first time in weeks. My eyes teared up and I lifted my hands to heaven in that motel room and told God, "Ok, that's good enough for me! You are quiet on purpose but you are rejoicing over Carol and me at this moment. You are quiet on purpose in your love but you delight in us with whoops of delight." IT WAS ENOUGH ANSWER FOR THE TIME BEING! He had not shelved us in a dark attic finished or tired of using us!!


Four months later we began discussions in earnest with Woodland Hills Church in Asheville, NC. By Thanksgiving we were moved there and serving as senior pastor...that's with a 2 week vacation in Hawaii thrown in too :-)


So boys and girls our story reminds us that God is always working life for our good and for His glory...even when He is silent it is done in love and He delights in us as we walk with Him anyway because He is worthy of our faith, love and commitment to serve even in the dark arid times like right now for someone reading this story. Goodnight and sleep well boys and girls.