God Knows
The Time and Pain
By Diane Nix
The month of October is when churches are encouraged to honor the Pastor. I wrote the following article several years ago. The conversation happened. I am keenly aware some of you are in difficult situations. Seemingly silent seasons. You have asked, begged, and pleaded with the Lord to answer, and perhaps it seems as if He isn’t listening. I want to remind you – He does see you. He hears you. He knows. He is working. I know when we focus entirely on Him, we will make it through the darkest seasons of our life.
The woman on the other end of the line just kept talking. I was still processing. “It’s just that some of us feel that Pastor has overstayed his time……,” she continued. I heard myself ask, “Why do ya’ll feel this way?” Why in the world did I keep this conversation going? Why was it necessary for this woman to tell me what others were feeling by phone? How many others were there? When did I need to start packing?
And then it happened, I heard myself ask, “So I am assuming that the people you are referring including yourself, have been praying and fasting concerning Pastor, his time here, and our church?” I continued with silence on the other end of the phone, “I know that Pastor has been praying for long hours. He has fasted, and he has sought God’s direction.” And then it came, “Well, maybe Pastor is not hearing from God,” she answered flatly. At that moment, I knew it didn’t matter what I said; her mind and the people she represented were the only opinions that counted.
I remember thanking her for the phone call, hanging up, and falling on my knees. I cried out to “Abba”! Through my tears and the quietness of that time, I heard the Father say, “I know.” In the days that followed, heaven seemed silent. It didn’t get better. It got worse. I asked many times if HE knew what was going on. Nothing. Silence. We didn’t stop praying. He purified us. We grew weary. We lived life. We had children. We continued to minister. People came to know Jesus. We took people into our home. We fed people. We prayed for people. We counseled. We married. We buried. We baptized. We ministered by faith, the power of the Word, and sheer determination to finish well…we kept going.
Three years later, the time came. The moving truck pulled away from the curb, and we stood looking at the church we had come to love. There was only One there to send us off. He saw. He sees. He knew. He knows. Don’t ever forget that.
I am cheering you, my dear sweet sister! Keep going! Don’t give up! Through the season of the story above, God taught me to turn to His Word to encourage me. I have included a few of them in a free download. I pray that you will cling to Him no matter the season you find yourself in today! Love you, sister! Diane
