God’s silence is often misunderstood. We wonder if he has abandoned us, is punishing us, or doesn’t care. When we have no answers, we might fill in the gaps ourselves, assigning motives to God based on what we see. David felt abandoned as he fled from his enemies, crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1).

Suffering can feel overwhelming. But when suffering stretches on with no answer from God, it can feel unbearable.

There have been times when I’ve cried out for relief and deliverance, wondering if it would ever come. I’ve brought my earnest prayers and questions before God, only to be met with echoing silence. I’ve underlined and starred these words in my Bible: “I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God” (Psalm 69:3).

My eyes have almost failed waiting for God. Have yours?

While I’m waiting, everything swirls together — my anxious cries, my shattered dreams, my longing for God to rescue me. My prayers seem to bounce off the walls. Scripture feels dry and tasteless. And then doubt creeps in. Has God forgotten me? Does he see me? Does he even care?

In my protracted waiting, I wonder if God knows how hard this is. I question why God is letting this continue for so long. I assume he isn’t doing anything in the silence. But Scripture tells a different story.

Experiencing God’s Silence

Throughout Scripture, saints have experienced seasons where God seemed silent as their suffering pressed in. Some gave up hope and stopped asking. Others took matters into their own hands. Still others questioned what they once knew to be true.

Enduring suffering and God’s silence simultaneously creates a mysterious elixir that can shake even the most devout.

Zechariah struggled to believe the angel’s promise that his prayer had been answered — perhaps he had stopped praying, stopped hoping for a child after years of barrenness. Abraham and Sarah, weary of waiting, took matters into their own hands, leading to Ishmael’s birth through Hagar. Job cried out in his suffering, longing for God’s voice, but for much of his trial, God was silent. John the Baptist, once filled with prophetic confidence, questioned if Jesus was truly the Messiah when he languished in prison. Even David, God’s anointed, spent years crying out, wondering why God had not answered him.

We can endure pain, but suffering God’s silence is bewildering. It makes waiting excruciating.

Centuries of Silent Preparation

One of the longest silences in biblical history was the four hundred years between the testaments. After the prophet Malachi spoke of a coming messenger who would prepare the way for the Lord (Malachi 3:1), the voice of God went quiet. No new prophets. No fresh revelation. Just silence.

Generations passed. God’s people suffered under oppression. They waited. They prayed. And they must have wondered, Has God abandoned us?

But God had not forgotten them. In the silence, he was preparing the world for Jesus. The Greek language spread, making it possible for the gospel to reach many nations. The Roman Empire built roads, paving the way for missionary travel. And some among the Jewish people, desperate for deliverance, became more open to Christ’s coming.

Then, when the time was right, the cries of a baby broke the four-hundred-year silence. This time, God came in the flesh. Paul describes it this way: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son” (Galatians 4:4). Rather than speaking through prophets, God spoke through Jesus, his own Son (Hebrews 1:1–2).

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