Is God There?

We hear that question--or some derivation of it--often. Where is God?

For many, this question becomes most pertinent during dry seasons of prayer, times when God feels distant or maybe not even there.

I wonder, however, when we encounter one of those dry seasons if we need to look "differently" for God. Let me explain.

Many dry seasons revolve around the practice of prayer. We eagerly seek God and His counsel--for some issue, some relationship, some need--yet we don't hear from Him, at least not in the way we want Him to respond.

Those dry seasons of prayer are disheartening, painful and oftentimes result in despair. We just want God to speak to us, give us some sort of sign that He is listening and hearing our desperate pleas. Yet often we only hear the proverbial crickets, barely breaking the silence that our desperation has created.

Several years ago, I was in the midst of a difficult time. I was praying--often and with much emotion--but no response from God was seemingly apparent. Every day seemed to be just another excursion into the mystery of unanswered prayer.

Looking back at that situation now from a different perspective, however, I can see that God was speaking to me. It wasn't necessarily in the way I wanted to hear His response, but He did respond to my prayers.

Every afternoon, at almost exactly the exact time, the same song would pop into my head. It included the words, "There is a light at the end of the tunnel." I really didn't think much of it at the time. Nevertheless, looking back on that, I am positive it was God's encouragement to me that He hadn't forgotten me, hadn't tossed aside my requests and moved on to other, more important things.

He had responded to my pleas, just not in the way I had expected--or wanted--Him to.

Dry prayer seasons will engulf all of us at some time. When you are in the midst of one next time and God doesn't seem to be speaking, look around you. See if He is speaking in some other way, some nontraditional way. Through a friend, a song, an unexpected word of encouragement from a friend.

The promise never to leave us or forsake us is still in effect. We just might need to look more diligently and not always in ways we expect.