The Silence of Heaven:
Seeking God When God Feels Distant
Job Series - Sermon 2 of 5
September 14, 2025
Job 23:1–12; Hebrews 4:14–16
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Introduction
Silence can be beautiful. The hush of a sunrise. The stillness before the symphony begins. The pause in a conversation when two people just understand. Silence can be gift.
But silence can also feel like absence. Like a door slammed shut. Like a phone line gone dead. Like a God who has left the room.
That’s the silence Job describes in chapter 23. He says, “If only I knew where to find Him; if only I could go to His dwelling! I would state my case before Him… But if I go to the east, He is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find Him. When He is at work in the north, I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of Him.”
Job is searching every direction on the compass, but heaven is quiet.
And let’s be honest—we’ve been there. We’ve prayed until words ran dry. We’ve sat in pews with heavy hearts and felt like nothing landed. We’ve asked, “God, where are You?” And silence answered back.
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1. The Honest Confession
One of the greatest gifts of Scripture is that it tells the truth about human experience. It doesn’t airbrush out the awkward parts. Job doesn’t pretend. He says, “I want God. I can’t find God. And it hurts.”
And we need that honesty. Because too often in church we feel the pressure to fake it. Smile when we’re breaking. Sing when we’re hollow. Say “I’m fine” when we’re anything but.
But Job teaches us that confession is not weakness—it’s worship. To say “God feels far” is itself an act of faith. Because you wouldn’t cry out if you didn’t believe Someone could hear.
A friend of mine went through a season of prayer that felt like talking into a void. He journaled every day for six months and wrote at the top of each page: “Still nothing.” But here’s the thing: he kept writing. He kept showing up. And later he told me, “I realized silence was not God’s absence; it was God inviting me to keep pressing in.”
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2. Silence as Formation
We hate silence because we think it means rejection. But silence can be formation. Hebrews 4 reminds us: “We have a great high priest… let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Notice the paradox: Job cries, “I can’t find Him,” and Hebrews declares, “You can always approach Him.” Which is it? Both. Job feels silence. Hebrews assures presence. And between the two we learn this truth: silence is not the end of the story; silence is the classroom of deeper trust.
Think of a teacher who gives a student a test. During the test, the teacher doesn’t talk. Not because she abandoned the student, but because she is watching to see what the student has learned. Silence is not absence; silence is assessment. And it shapes us.
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3. Stories of the Silent God
Let me give you a couple of snapshots.
There was a woman in a congregation I served years ago who prayed daily for healing from chronic pain. For years, no answer. Silence. But in the silence she became the most compassionate person you could meet. She started a support group for others in pain. She cooked meals for neighbors. One day she told me, “I wanted God to take away my pain. Instead, He gave me eyes to see others in theirs.” That was silence shaping service.
Or think of Mother Teresa. Decades of her journals reveal she felt God’s absence for much of her life. Yet she kept loving the poor, kept building orphanages, kept trusting. Her silence became her strength.
So maybe silence is not God ignoring us. Maybe silence is God investing in us.
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4. Humor in the Hush
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. You’re saying, “If silence is formation, then I must be a Ph.D. student by now.” And I get it.
I once prayed for God’s guidance about a major decision. I fasted. I journaled. I went on retreat. Nothing. After a week of silence, I sat down with my mentor. He listened, smiled, and said, “Maybe God trusts you more than you trust yourself.” That one line broke the tension. Sometimes the silence is heaven’s way of saying, “You already know. Walk it out.”
Humor doesn’t erase the weight, but it does remind us that silence is not the final word.
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5. God’s Hidden Work
Job says, “I look for Him and can’t find Him.” But then he adds, “He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”
Here’s the pivot: Job can’t see God, but he trusts that God can see him. That changes everything. Because the silence of heaven does not mean the absence of God. It means the presence of God in ways beyond our senses.
Think about seeds in the soil. You bury them in darkness, and for weeks you see nothing. Is the seed dead? No—it’s breaking open, roots forming, life pushing through. Silence is the soil of transformation.
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6. Practicing Presence in Absence
So what do we do when heaven feels quiet? We practice presence in the absence.
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Keep praying. Even if it feels like words bouncing off the ceiling. Because prayer is not just transaction—it’s relationship. And showing up matters.
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Keep worshiping. Sometimes singing through silence is the bravest faith you can show. Job fell to the ground in worship even when he felt nothing but loss.
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Keep serving. Silence can make us inward, but service turns us outward. Helping someone else often becomes the doorway to hearing God again.
A young woman once told me she stopped hearing God in her own prayers, but she heard Him loud and clear when she served in a soup kitchen. “I went looking for His voice,” she said, “and I found His hands.”
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7. Silence and the Cross
And let’s not forget: Jesus Himself knew silence. On the cross He cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” If anyone had the right to constant conversation with the Father, it was Him. And yet even the Son experienced silence.
But Easter proves silence was not abandonment. Silence was part of the story of salvation. Which means that when we experience silence, we are not forsaken—we are walking in the footsteps of Christ.
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8. The Joy Hidden in the Quiet
Now, let’s tip toward joy. Because silence can birth wonder.
Think of the night sky. Stars do not shout; they shine silently. Yet in their silence they declare the glory of God. Think of a child sleeping in a crib. The quiet is filled with beauty. Think of Communion—bread broken, cup lifted. No booming voice from heaven, just quiet, ordinary elements carrying extraordinary grace.
So what if the silence of God is not the end of God’s speech but a different language? What if God is speaking in whispers, in wonders, in ways that require not noise but attention?
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9. Application: Living Through Silence
Let me leave you with three practices:
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Reframe the silence. Instead of asking “Why won’t God speak?” ask “What might God be shaping in me through this silence?”
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Anchor in Scripture. Job longed for God’s voice, but we have a Word that does not fail. Open the pages when heaven feels closed.
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Approach the throne. Hebrews says you can come with confidence. Even when you feel nothing, come anyway. Mercy and grace are waiting.
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10. Closing Vision
Picture a church that doesn’t panic in silence. A people who can sit in the mystery without running away. A community that says, “We don’t always hear God, but we always trust God.” That’s power. That’s witness. That’s faith.
And friends, let’s remember our refrain: God speaks in the storm; we trust in God’s faithfulness. Even when His voice is quiet, His heart is not. Even when His presence feels hidden, His grace is near.
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Final Word
So when you hit those seasons when heaven seems mute—keep moving. Keep trusting. Keep believing that silence is not the end. Job could not find God, but God never lost Job. And God will never lose you.
The silence of heaven may feel like absence, but it is often the prelude to a greater presence.
So lean in. Listen deep. And let this truth echo in your spirit:
God speaks in the storm; we trust in God’s faithfulness. Amen.
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Pastor Jon's "Job Book"
Based on this Sermon Series
A Complete Preaching and Worship Resource for Churches Navigating Suffering and Uncertainty
When the storm clouds gather and faith feels thin,
Faith in the Storm offers a light that does not deny the darkness. Based on Pastor Jon’s sermon series on Job, this book invites readers and congregations to walk through the same path Job did—grief, silence, questions, and finally, restoration. It’s more than a set of sermons; it’s a companion for the soul. Drawing deeply from the well of Scripture, it holds space for those who wrestle with God’s absence and dares to proclaim that even silence can be sacred.
Each page of Faith in the Storm was shaped from real pastoral experience—worshiping with people in hospital rooms, praying through floods, and standing beside gravesides where words fall short. Pastor Jon weaves together sermons, Bible studies, and worship liturgies that give voice to both pain and perseverance. The book doesn’t offer quick answers or polished clichés. Instead, it offers what Job himself found: the transforming presence of God who speaks from the whirlwind. For pastors, small groups, and anyone seeking meaning in hardship, this resource opens Scripture as a place of refuge and renewal.
At the heart of the book is a simple refrain that echoes through every chapter and sermon: “God speaks in the storm; we trust in God’s faithfulness.” That phrase captures the spirit of St. John’s ministry—a faith not built on easy days, but on steadfast trust when skies turn gray. Whether you’re revisiting a sermon from this series or encountering Job’s story for the first time, Faith in the Storm extends an invitation to hope. It reminds us that even in loss, God remains near, and that the same wind that brings the storm can also carry the voice of grace.
Diving Deeper
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