Can God Trust You With His Silence?

It is always exciting when we get to begin a new year.  A new year brings with it new opportunities that we must seize.  Sometimes I feel like the Apostle Paul when he said in Phil. 3:13, "...forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before." 

For some, the end of 2011 brought them to the close of a year full of heartache and troubles.  For some, they are still waiting on God to answer prayers they were praying in 2011.  Why is it that God seems to delay in answering our prayer?  Well, if your prayer has not been answered yet, you are not alone.  This very thing happened in John 11 when Lazarus died and Jesus seemed to delay in coming to the rescue with the desired answer they were praying for.

The Bible says in John 11:5-6, "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.  When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was."

So, a family member had died but this was not just any family member.  This was a close friend of Jesus.  I'm sure they felt that Jesus would quickly drop everything He was doing and rush to prevent this great friend from dying.  What they didn't realize was that Jesus had a greater plan in mind.  When they prayed, all they got was silence.  But what they didn't understand was that sometimes God's silences ARE His answers!  

Think about it.  It takes much more faith to trust Him when we CAN'T see Him working but the reward can be experiencing a greater revelation from God.  Not everyone got to see Jesus raise their loved one from the dead, but Mary and Martha did!

So, the question for us is this...can God trust us with His silence?  Does God know we will trust Him no matter what, or does he know that we have to know every little detail before we will trust Him...which, by the way, is not really trust.

Has God been silent with you lately?  Just keep praying.  Keep on trusting.  Keep on believing that God is doing something wonderful behind the scenes that he will reveal in His own time.

Welcome To Our Newest Staff Member!

On October 19, the church unanimously voted to call Bro. Tyler Chandler as our Youth & Assistant Pastor.  Bro. Tyler is the son of Bro. Rick & Mrs. Kay Chandler who pastors in Graham, NC.  He attended West Coast Baptist College in Lancaster, California, under the ministry of Dr. Paul Chappell and was able to serve in various ministries while there in college.
     
We are excited about having Bro. Tyler on staff at Community.  He has a heart for young people and a desire to teach them to have a heart for God.
     
I believe the addition of Bro. Tyler will only expand what God will be able to do here at Community Baptist Church!

Say What?

Deut. 3:24 – O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?   


Moses made an amazing statement here when he said, "O Lord God, thou has begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand:"  Say what? Moses, are you telling me that you have only seen the 'beginning' of God's greatness and might?


You have to understand, when Moses said this, he was at the end of his life.  Up to this point in his life, 

• He had heard God speak to him out of a burning bush. 
• He saw God send the ten plagues upon the land of Egypt. 
• He saw God part the Red Sea  for the children of Israel to pass over.
• He saw God lead the children of Israel with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. 
• Twice, he saw God give water out of a rock. 
• He saw God give them manna every day for forty years.
• He saw God defeat armies that were much greater and more skilled than they. 

He saw all of this and more, and still he says that he had only begun to see the greatness and might of God. In other words, God still had more greatness and might that He could reveal if Moses had more time to live. This should encourage us!


I doubt that anybody reading this article has seen God do this much in their life.  Not that God couldn't do it, but He simply has not had the opportunity to show this level of greatness and might. God wants to show His greatness and might in our life, but we must give Him the opportunity to do so.  The only reason why Moses saw all of these things is because he stepped out by faith and trusted God.  The biggest reason we don't see God’s greatness and might in  a greater way is because we have not stepped out in a greater way. 


God will only reveal His greatness and might to the degree of our faith.  BUT, to whatever degree you HAVE seen God's greatness and might in your life, let me remind you that you have only BEGUN to see it!  Praise the Lord, what we have seen God do here at Community Baptist Church is just the BEGINNING of what God wants to do here!