Held in the Waiting: A 33-Day Devotional
Trusting God’s Heart When Healing Is Delayed and Strength Feels Thin
Day 3 — God in the Silence
Theme: Trusting God When Heaven Feels Quiet
Scripture (Douay-Rheims Bible)
Psalm 45:11 and Lamentations 3:31–33
“Be still, and see that I am God.” — Psalm 45:11
“For the Lord will not cast off for ever.
For if he hath cast off, he will also have mercy, according to the multitude of his mercies.
For he hath not willingly afflicted nor cast off the children of men.” — Lamentations 3:31–33
Meditation
Elena kept a prayer journal for years.
In the beginning, its pages were filled with gratitude and answered prayers. Promotions. Family milestones. Small victories. She had evidence that God was listening.
Then illness arrived.
Her journal slowly changed. Pages became filled with repeated requests: healing, clarity, relief, strength. Month after month, the same prayers appeared with no visible answers.
Eventually, she stopped writing.
One evening, after another painful day, she opened her old journal. She flipped through the early pages, then the later ones, and finally landed on a blank page. With trembling hands, she wrote only one sentence:
“Lord, are You still here?”
She closed the journal and wept.
Weeks later, while reading Scripture, her eyes fell on the words: “Be still, and see that I am God.” Suddenly, she understood something she had missed.
Silence was not absence.
Waiting was not abandonment.
Stillness was not rejection.
God had been present in every unanswered prayer—holding her, strengthening her, sustaining her—long before she recognized it.
The silence had been sacred.
Reflection
Few things are as painful as praying earnestly and hearing nothing in return.
You pray for relief.
You pray for clarity.
You pray for healing.
And heaven seems quiet.
In chronic illness, this silence can feel unbearable. It raises difficult questions: Have I prayed wrongly? Has God forgotten me? Am I being punished?
Scripture answers gently and clearly: “For the Lord will not cast off for ever.”
God’s silence is not rejection.
Throughout the Bible, faithful people experienced seasons of divine quiet:
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Job cried out with no immediate reply.
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David wrote psalms filled with longing.
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Mary waited in uncertainty.
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Even Jesus experienced abandonment on the cross.
Silence is part of sacred history.
“Be still, and see that I am God” does not mean “be passive.” It means “rest in who I am when you cannot trace what I am doing.”
Stillness invites you to release the exhausting task of interpreting every circumstance. It invites you to trust that God’s mercy is working beneath the surface.
Lamentations reminds us that God does not willingly afflict His children. Your suffering is not proof of His displeasure. It is evidence of living in a broken world where grace is constantly at work.
In silence, God often does His deepest shaping.
He builds patience.
He refines trust.
He deepens compassion.
He strengthens perseverance.
You may not hear His voice in dramatic ways. But you may feel His quiet sustaining power—getting you through another day, another appointment, another difficult night.
That strength is not accidental.
It is God’s presence.
If today feels silent, do not assume God is absent. Assume He is near, working in ways too gentle and too deep for immediate recognition.
Prayer
Silent and Faithful God,
I come before You with a heart that sometimes feels weary from waiting. I have prayed. I have hoped. I have believed. And yet, there are days when heaven seems quiet and answers seem distant.
I confess that silence frightens me. It makes me wonder if I am alone. It makes me question whether my prayers matter. It tempts me to doubt Your care.
Forgive me for equating quiet with abandonment.
Teach me to recognize Your presence even when I cannot hear Your voice. Help me to trust Your mercy when my circumstances do not change. Remind me that You do not willingly afflict Your children.
In moments of stillness, hold me close.
In seasons of waiting, strengthen my faith.
In unanswered prayers, deepen my surrender.
Let Your peace settle over my anxious thoughts. Let Your love quiet my fears. Let Your Spirit reassure me that I am never forgotten.
Even in silence, I choose to believe.
Even in waiting, I choose to trust.
Even in uncertainty, I choose You.
Be my refuge, my strength, and my steady companion.
I rest in You, Lord.
Amen.
