ISI Brotherhood Podcast

123. When God Goes Silent

• Aaron Walker • Season 2 • Episode 8

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Have you ever felt like your prayers were hitting the ceiling with no response? That moment when God seems distant, when spiritual drought leaves you questioning everything you thought you knew about faith? You're not alone.

This raw conversation dives into those desert seasons we all experience when divine silence tests our spiritual foundations. Rather than offering trite platitudes, we explore a counterintuitive truth: what feels like God's absence is often His invitation to deeper growth. The drought isn't punishment—it's preparation.

We unpack the crucial distinction between God actually being silent versus our receptors becoming dulled. As one guest wisely pointed out, "God was silent for 400 years between testaments," yet He was working the entire time. Similarly, your current spiritual desert may be the soil where your faith develops deeper roots.

Perhaps most practical is our discussion around who you allow to speak into your life during these challenging seasons. The voices you listen to will either draw you closer to God or pull you further away. When divine guidance seems muted, the voices in your head and around you grow louder—choose them wisely.

From my daughter's life-threatening need for an organ transplant to Seth's business challenges, we share personal stories of navigating seemingly silent seasons. We conclude with ten specific moves anyone can make when God seems distant, including shifting perspective, immersing in Scripture, seeking wise counsel, limiting negativity, and clinging to divine promises.

Whether you're currently in a spiritual desert or walking alongside someone who is, this episode offers both practical wisdom and genuine hope. Remember: consistency breeds breakthroughs. Keep showing up, even when you don't feel like it. Your breakthrough may be just around the corner.


Key Takeaways:

  • Distinguishing between actual divine silence and our perception of silence.
  • Why the people we surround ourselves with during spiritual droughts matter critically.
  • Reframing spiritual drought as an assignment rather than abandonment.
  • The importance of "going back to the blood trail" - returning to where you last felt God's presence.
  • How journaling helps reveal God's work even in seemingly silent seasons.
  • Ten practical moves for navigating when God seems distant.


Connect:


Speaker 1:

Even when you're not feeling the presence of God. Just recognize, during this drought, I'm gonna keep my Bible open, I'm gonna keep praying, I'm gonna keep showing up, I'm gonna keep walking the right path that I do know to do in order to be where he wants me to be man Seth. How's it going, buddy? You've had a big weekend this past weekend.

Speaker 2:

It's been a pretty wild seven days. Yeah, man, Seth, how's it going?

Speaker 1:

buddy, You've had a big weekend this past weekend. It's been a pretty wild seven days. Yeah, you got Aaron all married off one of your sons I did. Yeah, he doesn't say his name right.

Speaker 2:

He says his name Aaron. You know he's not Aaron like you, so I don't know. I just missed that memo.

Speaker 1:

Well, y'all need to move to Nashville and let my mom talk to him for a few minutes and you'll discover it's Abram man. This is my time of the year. I love this time of the year. Got an opportunity to celebrate, you know, memorial Day. That was fun. Went out on the lake for a little while, had some family time and hopefully you had a good weekend as well.

Speaker 2:

I did. It was kind of a culmination. It was crazy. I got called to do some international business last week and so I was out of the country until like Wednesday and then kind of moved up to the Salem Oregon area for the weekend wedding. So it was intense but everybody's healthy and happy and off to their honeymoon, so it's great.

Speaker 1:

How did Helen like you being out of town right up until the important day? How'd that go?

Speaker 2:

All I know is she signed off on it. So she did. Yeah, she signed off on it, she did.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, she signed off on it. All right, good deal, Good deal, man. I'm excited to talk about this topic today, when God goes silent.

Speaker 2:

Yeah yeah, I think every man knows this feeling Big A and like what do you do when it feels like God's just not answering your prayers, or your prayers are kind of bouncing off the ceiling, so to speak. And you know, I don't know, bouncing off the ceiling, so to speak, and you know, I don't know. It's been described like this desert and this drought. It seems like everybody goes through it, but what do you do while you're going through it?

Speaker 1:

You know, I've seen a lot of people go through this in Iron, sharpens, iron, as well as at our church. Family members have gone through this and, man, when you have kind of a faith drought, it feel like that. The silence of God just really shakes you at your core, at your very foundation. But I do want to talk about today a little bit. What's even more dangerous is who you allow to speak into your life during this silent period. So I wanted to ask you kind of right out of the gate is there a recent time where you've kind of felt God was silent? And let me ask it a different way also Do you think God is silent at times? Robin and I had this discussion earlier, so I'm real curious to what your thoughts are around that.

Speaker 2:

I'm not certain that God is silent. I think there are times when God allows us to feel the weight of the struggle and we interpret that as silent. Like, for instance, how does God speak to us? He speaks to us through music, through words, through His Word, through others, it's like. So all of that is always happening. We know in James it says there's no shadow of turning in God, so he's always like full blast, as good as it gets. So I tend to think that it has more to do with our receptors than God being silent, but the feeling is the same. It's like I'm not feeling connected to God. I feel like I'm out of sorts, and I think we use the word like God is silent to describe that feeling, like something's not working here. How do you think about it?

Speaker 1:

You know, I'm a little surprised at your answer, to be honest with you, because we're in total alignment with that.

Speaker 1:

Robin and I had this discussion. Robin has some girlfriends over and I just walked down from eating lunch and had a chat with her and two of her girlfriends and I asked that question do y'all think God goes silent? And the hush went across the room. It was like they didn't know how to answer that. I said I'm about to do a podcast, I'm just curious to your thoughts on this. And they all shared their feelings on this, and Robin was pretty adamant about she feels like at times, god is silent.

Speaker 1:

But I don't feel like God is silent. I feel like just as you've described it. I feel like it's a feeling, it's the struggle. You know we feel abandoned. Oftentimes, though, there's lessons to be learned. We're going to get into that in just a few minutes but one of the girls that was here visiting with Robin she said you know he was silent for 400 years. And I said that's a great point, it is yeah, and she said so. We're not to forget that. But I just think in our everyday lives that oftentimes we feel like God is silent, but I even share with Robin some of the things behind that. I feel like it's our lack of obedience oftentimes, or it could be sin in our lives, or it could be that we're just in a place that our heart is hardened or we're not praying, we're not seeking God, so we're going to. I know talk about some of those things, but it sounds like, for the most part, we're on the same page. In regards to him being silent or not.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think we are. And you said something I want to kind of capture, and that is this what do you do when you find yourself in that position? And I tend to do like an inventory, like all right, what's going on here. And Like all right, what's going on here. And I will often start with sin, like all right, is there some sort of sin that I need to confess Because I can take care of that, thank the Lord, you know, or is it that I've allowed over-concern or over-work or overwhelm, like I've allowed something into my life that's just crowding out this voice of God? I'm like, oh, I can't hear you. It's like, yeah, because you've got the stereo of life turned up at 10 and I'm not able to hear the Lord. And so it's interesting, though, I've been in a pretty tough season the last year or two, as I've shared.

Speaker 2:

I had a business partner die and I had a lot of stuff I just kind of needed to deal with, and so you kind of suck it up and you grind through it, and then you wake up and you go. I'm not having fun. And for me, part of when I feel like God is silent is this feeling like I'm not having fun in this life? I don't. I'm not experiencing the joy and the peace. So I've been spending a lot of time in the Psalms. And in the Psalms you do catch those moments where David is like, oh my gosh, the enemies are after me. Lord, this is really tough and I feel like you're silent.

Speaker 1:

But and then he calls himself to hope and encouragement in God you know Craig Groeschel I listened to I really enjoy listening to him and he was talking about oftentimes we overationalize God's presence and when he first said that, it felt demeaning almost. But he said as a believer, he's in our daily walk, every single day and we're looking for this grandioso, this thing that we're trying to feel, this, you know, holy Spirit moment in every decision, rather than incorporating that in part of our daily lives. And so oftentimes it's just the way we roll. It's just like Christians are always considering and asking God for directions and guidance and you want to be obedient to his leadership and sometimes, when we don't feel that over-sensualization, if you will, of making him feel grandioso at all times, it's kind of like being married. You don't feel like you're on your honeymoon at all times. It doesn't mean you're not in love with your wife, but you're always looking for that grandioso type feeling.

Speaker 2:

So that's an interesting point. It reminds me of something I heard one time I made note of it because it was so controversial, but I'll share it here, since it's mostly men listening to this podcast and it was an older gentleman in the church and he basically he said you know, it will often be said that women are more spiritual than men. He's like not. So he goes, women tend to be more sentimental than men and it gets categorized as spiritual right. And I thought that's an interesting observation, because men, we act different, like when God touches us. You know, our expression in response to that is different than, say, a woman's. And you know, I don't—it was just an interesting point I hadn't thought of but too much. And then, as I did ponder it, I tend to agree with that. I think we look for the outward expression of faith and we want to say, well, unless my hands are in the air and they're shimmering under the power of the Spirit, I'm not having a spiritual experience and a lot of times it's not really like that right.

Speaker 1:

You know, when we try to understand the silence of God, if there is a silence or it's your interpretation of the circumstances, we've really got to understand that it's not abandonment but it's an assignment. And really silence from God doesn't mean he's absent, it means he's working beneath the surface and we know that when you plant seeds they're below the surface. There's something going on right, there's growth happening. You just don't see it. So how would you quantify? It's not a sense of abandonment, but it's an assignment? In your own life, how would you recognize that?

Speaker 2:

I remember having a chance to hear the great Lou Holtz one time give a speech to a bunch of business folks and he said losers look at it like punishment, winners look at it like preparation. And I was like, wow, like that's how you experience it, like when there is difficulty, when there is this silence, you know we trust in God's goodness, right? We think about His faithfulness over time. We think about all the good things in our life. As you know, I use gratitude a lot when I get out of sorts and I just process are all of these good things in my life because of my brilliance and my good efforts Absolutely not right?

Speaker 2:

I was sharing with our ISI group this morning. You know I get a lot of credit for raising wonderful kids and I'm like well, first, you know, meet my wife. But even before that I said our recipe was pretty simple Surrender to Christ and then hang out with a bunch of other people who surrender to Christ and try to raise your kids in that environment. And we've had some great outcomes. That doesn't mean my kids aren't squirrely from time to time, you know, but my answer would be kind of getting back to the simplicity of things. Right, seek first the kingdom, all this other stuff will eventually come back around. But you know, know that there's these times where our roots have to get deeper, and they don't get deeper if things are going smoothly for us. They get deeper when we're struggling and we can feel alone and abandoned.

Speaker 1:

You know, faith really that's tested in silence is faith that's being refined. I used to work with gold a lot, you know. I was in the jewelry business 27 years and we used to manufacture jewelry and you had to get it to a certain temperature my memory's not going to serve me well. It's around 1,400, 1,500 degrees before it would melt and then all of the impurities would come to the top. We would just simply stick a probe in the gold that was smolting, that was melted, and all the impurities would stick to the probe. And I oftentimes see my life going that way is when things are really at its most difficult times. It seems like that's where the most growth happens. And those that have been following me for any length of time know that I had a daughter that was facing an organ transplant about a year and a half two years ago, I'll have to say now she's doing amazing. But during that time was probably one of the most difficult times of my life. It was like what is it that we need to learn? What life lessons you know? I've got to have faith in you. And the doctor says she's got 60 days to live if she doesn't have this organ transplant. And that's when the rubber really meets the road. When you're down and you're distraught and success right, you don't learn through that. You normally learn through failure and this was a time for our family to really grow. But it really came back to God. Don't be silent. Robin even shared that earlier. I told you when we were having lunch with her girlfriends is she said during that time she was praying out to God. What is it that I need to learn during this season? And she said, wasn't until after the transplant, until after they got home, because they were gone for several months having the transplant. Robin was living with her in another state and we had to get to a place, to where she could sit and listen and have clarity of mind. And she really saw it because she journaled every day during that period of time and that's when you can reflect and you can see the hand of God in all those steps all along the way. So our encouragement wants to be to you today that you may be struggling with something, those that are listening. You may be going through a very difficult time and you feel like God has left you, he's abandoned you, and I can assure you he's not. He's not abandoned you. He's maybe not interacting in the way that you would have. He's not abandoned you. He's maybe not interacting in the way that you would have, he's not giving you the answer that you would like, but in no way does that mean that he's abandoned you. It's just that, really, our faith is being refined and the drought may be God's way of deepening your dependence on him.

Speaker 1:

Not just your feelings and I want to talk about feelings for a second Seth. I think it's a real important part of this episode Like what do we do when you are feeling that? Let's just say you know, okay, I am feeling this. What do I do next? What is the next right step if I am feeling this way?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I've found for me, obviously, a prayer, but talking to somebody, I will often suffer in silence until it just erupts, usually in some yelling at somebody or emoting some way and you're like what the heck, why did you just overreact? And it's because all that pressure was building up. And so I have found that if I'm going to get to the other side of a challenge or a season like this, it usually comes from just opening up to people who know me and trust I trust them and they love me and they have some context. They have seen my journey and just sharing with them how I'm feeling Get some outside perspective, because you know we can, you know, just obsess over this problem over and, over and over in our mind until we lose all perspective.

Speaker 1:

Have you always been that way or is this something you've learned recently? Or what has your journey been about as far as being vulnerable or transparent to those around you?

Speaker 2:

I used to tell myself that I was impervious to stress, like it didn't bother me. I'm like, nah, I'm flatline, and that was a lie, because I had other you know sins and ways of acting out. That kind of bit me in the butt and I realized, oh, you were just telling yourself that you weren't stressing. You know, and Tony Robbins has famously said, stress is what gosh, what is it? No, stress is what achievers call fear. Right, I'm stressed. And if you really peel that back, you're like you're afraid of something, you're afraid of looking bad, of failing. It's like, you know, we all have these emotions and we try to pretend so. For me, I would say, no, I wasn't always like that. Probably from my 30s on.

Speaker 1:

I've been like that because I realized, realized, no, you're a pressure cooker if you don't just talk to some human about this. Talk to the lord, of course, but talk to other humans as well. You know, uh, I was very quiet and had a veil up. Uh, had kind of a facade up for probably the first 40 years of my life. Uh, 20 years of my career, 40 years of my life. And it wasn't until I was introduced to other people that said, hey, you need to have trusted advisors, you need to have people around you, you need to have people with context, you need people that you can trust, that you can let that veil down and share these things.

Speaker 1:

And it seems like my life got a lot better at that point because I wasn't shouldering all that responsibility myself. It just seems like when it's in my own head, it made it twice as bad. Or three times as bad, yeah, because you don't know what you don't know. But when you were able to share this with other people that really are interested in your journey, they can pray with you, they can encourage you, they can say, hey, I've been through that or I know someone has been through that. Here's the answer, here's a resource, here's something that you can do tangibly and it's like man, I didn't even know that existed or I didn't even know that was a thing, or I certainly didn't know that people really was interested in my life to that level. And so it just through kind of quickly.

Speaker 1:

One is, I think it tests our faith and it really shows up in Job in the Bible. He's like man, what is going on, and we all know the story. Or primarily, we haven't got time today to teach that Sunday school lesson, but Job really went through a really, really tough situation and I'm sure he felt God was silent. In that, I think also it teaches us patience. My mom always says don't pray for patience, she says pray for endurance.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think about Joseph in prison and you know, for all these years, and everybody else is getting out, and he's like, you know, he knows he's got a calling, he had a very, very clear vision, he's like, but I'm still in prison. Right, there's this testing, this patience, like you say.

Speaker 1:

I think it's also a time that it encourages our growth. And when I think back, like King David, you know, you look at what he went through, the growth that he had to go through in order to get to that position. He wasn't there initially, but then I also think it draws us closer to God, because when you don't have an answer readily available and you can't see the pathway, it really strengthens your faith to trust Him more right. And so I think sometimes the seemingly silencedness of God can really draw us closer to Him. And then the last thing I just wanted to mention in this section is it prepares us for a greater purpose. And you think back one of the stories of the prodigal son, and there was a greater purpose in that. But it was years them going through this situation with the prodigal son. And so I think oftentimes there is a greater purpose for our lives.

Speaker 1:

Just historically, I think of my personal life. I got married, had a couple of kids and I'm trying to make my way and growing a business, and then my kids were empty nesters or we were empty nesters. Our kids are gone. Then they got married, they got kids. My purpose kind of changed. It wasn't just about building a business. And now I'm kind of in this phase of legacy. It's like, okay, I've done this thing now for 46 years. That's hard for me to believe to look back and know that I've almost worked every day for 50 years. But I look at it now it's like what is the legacy piece going to be? And God, what are you going to do in my life from that standpoint? So oftentimes God's talking to you about a greater purpose.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's a good transition. To pick up on something you brought up earlier, Big A and that is, in this moment of drought or when it seems like God is silent and you're kind of suffering, who do you rely on to help you out of that? Like being really selective, like which voices are you going to listen to? It seems to me that that's a huge part of making the most of that season that you're going through. I think it's paramount.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the people that we listen to, because you want people with similar core values, because people with you know worldly values and not similar core values are going to give you different advice than somebody of similar core values or similar worldviews that you might have. And the reason I think it's so important is I've had people around me for these past 25, almost 30 years that have given me good advice, but I've got to have been willing to subject myself to some of their leadership, subject myself to their scrutiny. The part that's been the most difficult for me personally is letting that veil down and letting people really know who it is that they're dealing with. Yeah, because we want people to think we've got it all figured out, we've got it all together, I know all the answers and we don't. The truth is we don't, and it's very important who you surround yourself with.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I was thinking about this wedding that we had this weekend and a lady said something to me that showed up in my toast to the bride and groom and she said she said it takes it doesn't take a village, she said it takes a church. And I thought it was interesting. Like the church when it's functioning well. That's one of the beauties of a church is you're around people, you're in some sort of a community group or you know. You put yourself intentionally in a place where people can get to know you. You can get to know them. Right To your point earlier is, if they don't share your core you, you can get to know them right To your point earlier is if they don't share your core values, you're not going to let them mentor you, you're not going to let them influence you because you don't want to follow them, you don't want to go anywhere that they're going, you know, if they don't share your core values.

Speaker 2:

But when you find those people who actually know you and share your values, well then you can, as you say, you can open up and you can really invite them, ask them to challenge you and to push you towards. You know restoration, or you know you think it's funny. All of a sudden I'm thinking about Job's friends, right, because that was his complaint. He's like man, all this crap is happening in my life and you know, they came around and they had a lot of really bad advice because it was just God putting him through a season, right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's the reason that it's vital that you have people of similar core values, similar worldviews. I don't mean that you have to be clones. I'm not saying that because diversity is good to some measure. But when you're taking lifelong examples of how you're going to raise your family and the things you're going to believe in, the places you're going to go and how you're going to raise your family, you need those people.

Speaker 1:

These men in your life will either help you lean into God or lean away from him. It's going to do one or the other, regardless of the people that you're around and you need to find out are they reminding you of God's promises or are they echoing your doubts? Because there's nothing worse than being around somebody that is like, man, I'm having a bad day and you're like, yeah, big A, you got every reason to be down. You should be, because this is not going to end well. But that's not the kind of people you want around you. You want people that are going to be an encouragement, that are going to tell you the truth but alongside, be some semblance of encouragement to you in your life.

Speaker 2:

Well, and if people are feeling overwhelmed, if listeners are feeling overwhelmed, like everything in their life is miserable. I heard a great quote the other day from, actually, somebody that introduced me to you big A indirectly. It was Brendan Burchard. He was talking about midlife crisis and he said a lot of times what happens, and maybe I'm combining a few things here. He goes you get to a certain age in life and you got stuff all around you, you got obligations, you got assets, you've got commitments, you've got reputation and you wake up one day and you're like my life stinks. And he said a lot of people just punt at that point Because and this is really important to listen Are you listening to the world?

Speaker 2:

Because the world will tell you what you need is a sports car, you need a new wife, you need to go find yourself, you need to experience all the things that you missed out on when you were young. Right? That's just really, really, really bad advice. You got to make sure you and Brendan's point was go back to the beginning. What are your values? What is your life about? Right, and of course, as believers, we go to Scripture for that right. We go to other believers and we say help me, you know.

Speaker 1:

You know, I learned a lesson deer hunting about seeking God and there's a parallel between the two. When I was younger, my dad taught me how to shoot a bow and I would bow hunt, deer hunt, and got pretty good with it. And so I went on a regular basis and I remember as a child shot a pretty nice buck and got down out of the tree and of course you're a kid, you're anxious and excited. My dad goes OK, we got to wait first of all for about an hour. We're not going to do anything for about an hour and then we're going to track the deer. So I start tracking the deer following the blood trail and all of a sudden I thought well, he probably went right and I go off down the hill. My dad goes hey, what are you doing? So I think he might've went down this way. He said you're never gonna find the deer until you track the blood. I said what do you mean? He said you don't know where that deer went. And he said when you lose the trail, you gotta go back to where you lost some of the blood and track from there and go forward. And I think that's the way it is with our spiritual life is.

Speaker 1:

Where did you last sense God? Where did you last feel him? Last sense God? Where did you last feel him? What were you doing? What stage of mind were you in? Who were the people that were around you? Go back there and say, my Ebenezer, right, what is it that I need to do in order to get back on the right path? Because these people that you're around, that you've chosen to be around, if God's voice is absent, the voice in your own head is going to get louder, and so you need to be sure that you're around these godly people that can help you. I want you to choose men who's going to pray for you, who's going to challenge you, and they're going to redirect you back to truth, and if you have that in your life, I think it'll help you. You know it says in Proverbs 13, 20, walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fool suffers harm.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well said. And there's the other part too. We talked about big A's. You've just got to keep showing up. You just got to keep pushing forward One foot in front of the other. Just be faithful.

Speaker 1:

It's hard sometimes. Yeah, it is.

Speaker 2:

But life is hard. You know, when life gets hard, I often think about the effort of Christ. Or we're coming off of Memorial Day, right, that's hard. You know, d-day was hard. Working in a coal mine is hard, right, getting up, putting our nose in the Bible and humbling ourselves. That's the kind of hard that we ought to be able to handle, right. And you know, I know, that emotions can get the best of us. But this is what tests us and, frankly, this is how we also build some self-respect. It's like are we going to wither because it's a little hard or are we going to say no, I'm a man, god has blessed me, I can do it right, Other people are counting on me, doesn't matter how I feel. I'm not getting drafted to go fight in Vietnam or something. This is just. It's a season of life. Keep a little perspective, right.

Speaker 1:

You know, I think we've got to be obedient to the anchor. In the drought and even when you don't feel it and I know guys don't talk a lot about feelings but even when you're not feeling the presence of God, just recognize, during this drought, I'm going to keep my Bible open, I'm going to keep praying, I'm going to keep showing up, I'm going to keep walking the right path that I do know to do in order to be where he wants me to be. And it's the same way in work. Consistency breeds breakthroughs. And if you're consistent all the time, I teach people how to do various things in business and they say well, I did it for three weeks and it didn't work. Well, you need to do it for multiple weeks. And that consistency, I promise you, there's going to be a breakthrough.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that scripture, galatians 6, 9, says let us not grow weary in doing good for the proper time. We're going to reap a harvest if we don't give up. I was in Psalms this morning and what jumped out to me was from Psalm 147, 11. It says this but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him and here's the part that really got me in those whose hope is in His steadfast love. And there's a comma in that, like the Lord takes pleasure, and the back part of that is in those who hope. And so, if we want to please the Lord, we got to stay focused on that hope thing. Right, we need hope. Right, we lose I mean, life gets really hard when we lose hope, right, but the Lord wants us to keep hoping. So, big A, we came up with 10 moves that people can make. Let's just bang through these real quick 10 moves that people can make when God seems silent.

Speaker 1:

Well, the first one is you've got to shift your perspective. Yeah right, it's hard to do that, because this is the lens that you've got, this is the life that you've experienced. But you've got to shift your perspective to see the silence not as rejection, but as a season of preparation and growth.

Speaker 2:

Right. Second, one is got to immerse yourself in scripture. Just go to the word. It's alive. It's not like reading somebody else's mail. This is reading something that God can give you new insights that you've never seen before, especially when your heart is tender and you're really seeking.

Speaker 1:

You know. The next one is pray honest prayers. And, man, that is so hard oftentimes because you're like I'm going to trick everybody, you're not going to trick anybody. You've got to pray these honest prayers. You've got to tell God how you really feel, like he knows, but you need to confess that, you need to say it, even in the silence. Honesty really deepens intimacy with Him.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Move number four is seek out wise counsel, you know. Find people that you know know God, because they can call you back to Him and they can also call you out in a good way. They can remind you of what's true about you, right? Because we lose sight of everything when we lose sight of God. We lose sight of us, we lose sight of what matters. We just we get all blurry-eyed right.

Speaker 1:

The next thing you got to do is reflect on past faithfulness. You got to remember those times where God carried you through. You got to reflect back. You've got to say, hey, his track record can really fuel my trust in this dry season that I'm currently facing.

Speaker 2:

Number six is stay obedient to your calling. Like there's certain things you know that God has called you to do, you don't have to quote unquote, throw the baby out with the bathwater. You don't have to make everything new just because you're in a hard season. Go back to the things that you know you're called to, just double down on those. Maybe eliminate some noise and confusion and new things, but don't eliminate the things that you know the Lord's called you to.

Speaker 1:

You know number seven serve excuse me, serve others. You gotta step outside of yourself by helping someone else. Service can really unlock perspective and hope when we take our eyes off of ourself and serve other people. That's what we say in ISIs be the giver, not the taker. The natural reciprocity of others wanna help you. So if you serve others're going to do yourself a great justice.

Speaker 2:

Number eight and this is one I've been working on a lot lately limit negativity. So cut out the voices, the media, the, the news, the things that give you that pit in your stomach, the things that make you angry pit in your stomach, the things that make you angry, the people in your life that are just drama. Got to cut that stuff out. It's clutter, right, and it's hard. There's a guy named Jordan Rainer. I've been reading a great book called Redeeming your Time about how to use your time effectively, but he has a phrase I think it's something like abstain from the kingdom of noise, or essentially, just jump out of the kingdom of noise. And you know what, if we don't read the news and if we don't follow X formerly Twitter if we're not on socials, the world will not stop right. But we'll actually have a lot more peace because we're not comparing ourselves to these images that we put up about other people having it perfect, because they don't have it perfect either.

Speaker 1:

Number nine is journal your journey and write down those prayers, write down your questions and even your frustrations. Be sure to just make note of those so you can reflect on those and give those to God, because God can meet you on those pages.

Speaker 2:

Yep and bringing it home. Cling to God's promises. Remember all the things he said. Remember all the things he's already done and just grab hold of the things that he promises, because His promises never fail. Make those moves if you're feeling like you're in this season of silence.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's really good. Listen. Thanks for being with us today on the Iron Sharpens Iron Brotherhood podcast. If you're in a silent season right now, listen. Trust me. You're not alone and you're not forgotten. God may be developing something in you that can't be rushed. It's going to take a little bit of time, but you cannot afford to walk this road alone. Who will you allow to be in your circle during a drought and determine whether you walk out stronger or you stay stuck in the spiritual quicksand? Thank you so much for being here today, seth. It's been a pleasure. We'll see you guys next time.