It is often said that ‘silence is golden’ with regards to the Almighty God. His silence on a matter points to a golden moment, despite the difficulties and harshness of one’s present situation.
Since the advent of the PAOPA regime under retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, the people have experienced hardship after hardship for which they have been praying and fasting to God for a reprieve. When their sufferings kept increasing, the hard pressed resorted to protesting their plight.
Based on orders from above, the people, for their effort, are usually shot at by police officers paid to serve and protect them based. The people once again turned to the Lord for assistance. Yet, the Lord has been silent.
What does God’s silence mean?
God’s silence means that he is working things out on your behalf, in spite of what you may be presently experiencing. His silence does not mean that he does not care; it actually means that he is getting you ready, mentally, physically and otherwise to come into your blessing.
As long as you believe in God, continue in him despite your condition.
His silence gives the enemy the opportunity to unleash all kinds of difficulties and problems in your life for which you are certain God has abandoned you. But on the contrary, God’s silence should motivate you to pray and fast more because he is working things out in the background for you.
But, much more than that he is getting you ready to claim your blessings and put them to good use.
When God is silent, Satan comes with lots of problems to discourage you and make the situation worse. But this should motivate the faithful as it is during these times when all seems lost that the Lord is actively working on you from the background.
God works on our behalf at the right time and the right place not necessarily when you want it to happen.
The suffering masses of Sierra Leone that have been hopeful of God stepping in to rescue them and so save the day are here encouraged to fast and pray even harder.
There is a patience that is produced by faith that the faithful should exercise in response to God working in the shadows to get your prayers answered.
The Lord does not do things as humans as any time is right for man to do things. Unfortunately, it is not so with the Lord.
Knowing all things, the Lord works on the individual to get his character and all things in place necessary for him to walk into his hopeful situation; this means that the Lord is working on you to get you ready for what you hope for.
The Lord was silent to Christ for 30 years, but during that period, Christ grew in stature, wisdom, character and favour with God and man.
The people of Sierra Leone, instead of thinking God has forsaken us, should focus on allowing God to build up our character instead of complaining and giving up. God is with the faithful.
What we should be praying for at present is for God to grant us the wisdom of discernment and the patience to see our national character ordered in the footsteps of God.
Think of Joseph, the dreamer in the Bible. While he was indeed favoured by God, he still had some challenges to go through to get his character in place for the blessings of God.
He had to experience being betrayed by his brothers, being held in a pit, sold into slavery, the issue with Potiphar’s wife, being held as a prisoner at Pharaoh’s prison, being forgotten by those he had helped in the prison, and the like.
All along and despite all that was happening, Joseph never lost faith and was blessed with what we now know of him.
God has therefore not abandoned the people of Sierra Leone. Just as he did in the days of Joseph, he is and will do for Sierra Leone. There is a version of us that is not ready for God to give us what we want. Some parts of our national character should be ordered for God’s blessings to be realised.
In the story of Mary, mother of Christ, the announcement that she was highly favoured of God unleashed a lot of issues for her, the central one was being married to a man that had not had intercourse with you but yet you are pregnant.
Imagine what her husband Joseph might have gone through, what the neighbours had said about her fidelity. But faithful Joseph and Mary, despite their situations then, persisted and the rest is history.
The people of Sierra Leone should see God’s silence as golden. It will lead to the golden moment we hope for, but this can only be accomplished if we allow for the training in character and righteousness that the Lord is taking us through to get us ready to walk into his revelation. Lonta!