Have you ever experienced a difficult season in your life where God seemed distant and quiet? If you have been a Christian long enough, the answer to that question is a resounding yes. Undoubtedly you can remember the time, place, and situation when it occurred.

What is most frustrating it seems that God felt distant in the moments when you felt like you needed him the most. God’s timing can be rather inconvenient.

So why does God go silent?

Theologians have wrestled with this question for ages, and books have been written on this subject. A quick devotional written by a campus pastor can’t provide the full context or explanation for this issue, but I want to throw an idea out there that provides some context and clues to why God goes quiet at times.

If you have ever talked to a believer going through one of these seasons, they often express emotions like hurt, confusion, and even betrayal. What does a friend say? What advice or encouragement can we offer?

I believe one reason Christians feel upset and abandoned by God is due to a wrongly held presupposition. Please don’t let that word presupposition scare you. It simply means something that you presume to be true ahead of time.

Here is the strongly held presupposition by believers: God is most concerned with my happiness.

Although I believe that God cares about the happiness of his children, I don’t believe that your happiness is God’s biggest concern. Scripture teaches that God is most concerned with our holiness and not merely our happiness. This means that God will allow difficult situations and confusing seasons to conform you to the image of his Son.

The unfortunate reality is that we develop more in training sessions than we do on vacations. This means that God will allow difficult and confusing seasons to create a depth of character in his children.

When you understand God’s ultimate purpose is not you becoming happy but you becoming more like Christ, you will begin to have a better perspective on difficult seasons in your life. I truly hope this helps you!