What Should I Do If I Can't Hear God's Voice?

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The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

"Dad, how do I hear from God?"

This was a conversation I had with my oldest daughter last night, and it's one I suspect I'll continue to have with each of my children as they grow. As we talked, I shared some of the ways I hear from God, one of which is through writing. Writing down specific prayer requests and then placing them on a prayer wall in my office helps me remember God's faithfulness.

And so when Zoey asked that question, I could immediately point to several prayers God had answered in the past few months.

That said, while we might have the general sense that God is working in our lives, what do we do when he feels so distant? You need to hear from him, but all you hear is silence. If so, you're not alone, and it's a question Christians have wrestled with throughout the centuries.

Several years ago, I wrote a book titled Walking With a Limp. In this book, I quote from author George MacDonald, one of the greatest literary geniuses of the nineteenth century.

Using fiction to drive home great theological truths, his writings continue to be widely read to this day. According to the great C.S. Lewis, there is “hardly any other writer who seems to be closer, or more continuously close, to the Spirit of Christ Himself.”

His 1872 work The Princess and the Goblin has replayed in my mind on numerous occasions, particularly when I am going through times of uncertainty. In this account, an eight-year-old princess named Irene and a young miner named Curdie are the central characters. Irene is lonely, living within the confines of a large palace. Curdie, on the other hand, spends much of his time beneath the surface of the ground in search of precious treasure.

Unbeknownst to them, the mines near the castle are inhabited by a race of goblins who were once banished from the kingdom and are eager to enact some form of revenge on humans living above ground. Through a twist of unfortunate circumstances, Curdie is captured and held captive by the queen of the goblins. Barricaded inside a small rocky room, he is intended to be reserved as meat.

Princess Irene is having a much different experience. One rainy day while exploring the castle, she stumbles into an upper room and discovers a beautiful lady who identifies herself as Irene’s great-great- grandmother. This lady is strangely mysterious and, as Irene will discover, not visible to all.

She gives Irene a beautiful fire-opal ring attached to an invisible thread and gives her instructions for if she ever finds herself in a place of danger. She tells Irene, “You must take off your ring and put it under the pillow of your bed. Then you must lay your finger, the same that wore the ring, upon the thread, and follow the thread wherever it leads you.”67 Irene is immediately excited and replies, “Oh, how delightful! It will lead me to you, grandmother, I know!”68

But her grandmother offers her a word of caution. “Yes. But, remember, it may seem to you a very roundabout way indeed, and you must not doubt the thread. Of one thing you may be sure, that while you hold it, I hold it too.”

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Not long afterward, Irene is asleep in bed when she wakes up to hideous noises in her room. She is frightened but immediately remembers her grandmother’s instructions and takes off her ring, placing it underneath her pillow. Sensing her grandmother’s hand but seeing nothing, she assumes the thread is going to take her back up to the castle tower where her grandmother will comfort her.

Instead, the thread leads her down the stairs, out the door, and into the open countryside. On and on it goes, taking her down a path and up the side of a rough mountain, eventually leading her into the side of a cavern with a stream bubbling out the side. The thread takes her through the hollow mountain and up dangerous paths before it dead ends into a huge heap of stones.

At length the thought struck her that at least she could follow the thread backwards, and thus get out of the mountain, and home. She rose at once and found the thread. But the instant she tried to feel it backwards, it vanished from her touch. Forwards, it led her hand up to the heap of stones—backwards it seemed nowhere. Neither could she see it as before in the light of the fire. She burst into a wailing cry, and again threw herself down on the stones.

This part of MacDonald’s classic always makes me pause and reflect. I think of the many times when faith has taken me to a seemingly dead end with nowhere to turn. Going backward is not an option because this would be out of God’s will and, thus, would forfeit the closeness of his presence and direction. What to do? Where to go?

It’s here that I remember these simple words: “Follow the string.”

Unbeknownst to Irene, on the other side of this pile of stones is her captured friend Curdie. Instead of giving up and going home, Irene chooses to pick rock after rock from the pile and press forward. She is far away from the safety of the castle tower, but it is where her grandmother wanted her to be. And through obedience, she is able to rescue her friend and eventually help him discover her grandmother for himself.

Coming up against the stone piles of life is not easy. When all around us seems hopeless and we are living in a fog, waiting on God’s promises to be fulfilled is difficult. Like Irene, we’re tempted to throw up our hands and quit. Faith in God is too confusing, frustrating, and uncertain.

But in the moments of greatest doubt, follow the string. Journey through the stone pile, for in that place your faith in God will be strengthened far more than if you limit your experience to the castle tower.

How do we follow the string? Here are a few thoughts:

First, Do the Next Right Thing

As my friend Troy Keaton says, "If you want to know God's will in the unknown areas of your life, start obeying God in the known areas of your life."

There are many things you CAN do today that you know are right. You can love your family, be a great neighbor, and spend time with God in his Word. Do those "little" things well.

Second, Start Reading More Books by People Like George Müller

One reason we Christians often struggle to have faith is that we have a limited understanding of church history. We haven't studied at the feet of men and women who tested the limits of dependence on God and found him faithful time and time again.

Third, Praise God in Advance

It's easy to thank God and praise him for what he's already done. But it's a lot tougher to do this when we're standing in a fiery furnace of doubt and confusion.

Praise has the dual purpose of bringing glory to God and lifting our minds above the temporary fears we face.

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