Does God seem silent or inactive in your life?

When my wife was pregnant, it constantly amazed me that another person was living on the inside of her. When he would kick, it would be exciting because we could see him being active and moving and it was suspenseful because we didn’t know when or where He would kick next. When he kicked it would also give us an outward indication that He was very much alive and well, and this would bring us comfort and assurance.

If we are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, then the person of the Holy Spirit lives and dwells on the inside of us. This is an astounding truth to reflect upon. Just like when my son kicked in my wife’s womb, when the Holy Spirit speaks, moves, or prompts us, it is exciting and comforting because it confirms He is moving in and through us. This also validates our sonship. 

You see, there were other times that Elijah didn’t kick or move at all, at least as far as my wife could tell. In fact, this seemed to be the case most of the time. He was just there quietly living inside of her, full of life, and fully present. 

Times of silence

During these times of silence, we would get alone together and turn on our heartbeat monitor, which was a special device sensitive enough to pick up heartbeats of babies in the womb. We would place it on her belly and move it around. Suddenly without notice, it would detect Elijah’s heartbeat. Sometimes it sounded distant, but at other times it would be very loud and clear. The moment we heard it and caught its rhythm, we would smile at each other with awe because each beat reminded us of his living presence inside her, and that all was well. Although his heart was beating in her the entire time, our natural ears were not good enough to pick it up. We needed something with greater sensitivity to help us hear it beat.

We cannot experience the wonder of hearing the heart of the Spirit of the Lord using our minds or our intellect. We can read the Bible and acquire truth, but if we want to experience His heart, we must inwardly tune our spirit into His. Our spirit is the only instrument God has given us which is sensitive enough to detect it. It may overflow into our mind, but it begins in our spirit.

King David was called a man after God’s heart not because he was perfect in his behavior all the time. Although He delighted in God’s word and ways (Psalm 1), what made Him different was his ability to tune his spirit into God’s Spirit through worship and stillness. He called this process ‘deep calling unto deep’ (Psalm 42:7). 

There may be times when God seems silent or inactive in your life, and you may get concerned that something is wrong. You may even doubt your own salvation. In these times, get alone with Him. Learn to turn inwardly to your spirit and towards the Spirit of Christ within you, and you will pick up on the heartbeat of Heaven. You will find it beating with nothing less than pure Calvary love, life, peace, and sonship toward you. 

“The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirits that we are children of God”, – Romans 8:16: