Why is it that God sometimes seems silent or absent in the life of a believer?

from the old testament

• The Bible teaches that God is omnipresent which means that He is everywhere. David, knowing this, said, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:8).
• David was comforted because God’s omnipresence meant that even when life was at its darkest (Psalm 139:11), he knew that God was there and understood the situation perfectly (Psalm 139:12).
• Similarly, speaking rhetorically, God emphasized His omnipresence: ““‘Am I a God at hand,’ declares the Lord, ‘and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:23-24). Though God may seem absent at times, He never really is.
• Though He is everywhere, we also read that He is particularly close to His people. (Exodus 13:21-22).
• Psalm 66:18 shows how our sin can separate us from God. David says, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened” (Psalm 66:18). The word translated as “cherished” in the ESV means “see.” David was saying that if he had been aware of sin in his heart God would not have listened to Him, implying that God would have remained silent David was intentionally harboring sin. So, one reason God may be silent is because of sin in our life which we are protecting (cherishing).
• Similarly, Isaiah indicates that God’s silence to their pleas is not because He can’t help, but because the Israelites’ sin has separated them from the Lord (Isaiah 59:1-2). God’s silence can sometimes—but not always—be traced to our sin.
• In Isaiah 1:15, He said, “When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.” He then said what would heal the relationship (Isaiah 1:16-17). God had gone silent with Israel because she was acting wickedly. However, He was not turning His back on them forever; He was teaching them to “learn to do good” by His silence.
• Job, “a blameless and upright man,” suffered dearly (Job 1:8). Though unaware of what God was doing,---even questioning God, at one point—-he wisely said, “Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (Job 23:8-11). Even though God was silent during much of Job’s trial, Job understood that God was not absent. He expressed trust that God knew right where to find him (“he knows the way that I take”). Despite not understanding the trial, Job understood God’s intent to purify him through the trial.
• When Israel was being persecuted by their enemies, David expressed trust that God would eventually act—in His perfect timing:, “Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long” (Psalm 25:4-5). David realized that spiritual growth comes over a period of time, so in this and other Psalms, he talks about waiting on the LORD. By the very act of writing this Psalm, he was expressing his trust in God at a time of silence, reminding himself and the people of Israel that “Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous” (Psalm 21:3a).
• God’s silence drove David to love Him more, longing for Him like one in the middle of a desert longs for water (Psalm 63:1).
• Another psalmist wrote, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2). This imagery shows the heart’s growing need for God when he is silent.

from the new testament

• The New Testament regularly teaches that believers should “walk by faith not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). ILife is filled with uncertainties, but we obey God (walk) by faith, making “it our aim to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9b) despite those uncertainties. We live according to what God teaches us in His Word, by His Spirit and put our faith into practice, trusting that God is there despite not always seeing Him. Those daily acts of faith are how God grows us.
• Paul wrote, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Believers (“those who are called according to his purpose”) can trust that God is working out everything for our ultimate good even when He doesn’t seem to be responding to us at the moment.
• However, when we face the suffering, seemingly alone, Peter also says to throw our anxieties on Him (1 Peter 5:6-7), crying out through the pain, expressing faith that God does care. The same God who is leading us through the trial also wants us to lean on Him as we cry through it.
• James reminds us to “count it all joy” when facing trials, because they produce steadfastness, leading to maturity in Christ (James 1:2-4). Rather than offering escape, God uses suffering to refine us. Those who endure will receive “the crown of life” He promises (James 1:12). When God seems silent, He may be walking with us through the storm, not rescuing us from it—shaping us step by step.
• James writes, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16). JGod ignores most prayers of unbelievers and might ignore the prayers of the believer who is acting like an unbeliever (James 4:3-4).
• Our relationships with others might also hinder our sin. For example, Peter said, “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7). While it’s unclear if Peter meant that the prayer, itself, will be blocked or the husband will have difficulty praying while also sinning, the point is that our prayer life is affected by our relational sin.

implications for today

God is everywhere at all times, but that does not mean He always responds according to our timeline or in obvious ways. In fact, sometimes His silence is Him ignoring us because of our sin.

This implies that when God seems absent from us, we need to examine ourselves. Though we all sin (1 John 1:8-10), being a sinner saved by grace who is striving to obey differs significantly from reveling in sin. Check yourself. Are you cherishing any sins? Those harbored sins might be hindering your relationship with God.

If we aren’t harboring obvious sin in our life, maybe we are praying to escape the very thing that God is using to test us and grow us. So He is “silent’ in the sense that He is allowing the pain to continue. During this time of “silence,” bring to mind everything Scripture teaches about who God is. Doing that allows God’s word to refine you and grow you. Rather than seeing God’s silence as a reason to doubt His attention, view the suffering as God-given opportunities to express your faith in the God who always knows.

Finally, God desires for us to love Him, not just what He gives. Sometimes He is silent so that we feel His absence strongly and begin to long to have Him near. Foster and express your love for Him by reading the Bible, praying, and serving other believers in the church. As you do these acts for God and His people, you will find yourself growing in love for God, which is pleasing to Him.