CCEF Podcast: Where Life & Scripture Meet Finding Faith When God Seems Silent
Jun 23, 2025
Esther Liu, a CCEF faculty member focusing on the experience of God’s silence, and Darby Strickland, also a faculty member who shares insights on abandonment, unravel the emotional complexities of feeling God is distant. They discuss how prolonged suffering can lead to doubt and isolation, while emphasizing that these struggles are common among Christians. Using the Psalms, they explore the transforming power of prayer and the importance of community, encouraging listeners to find hope and trust in God’s faithfulness, even in silence.
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Pain of God’s Apparent Silence
- Feeling that God is silent often arises in prolonged suffering and unanswered prayers.
- This experience leads to emotional pain marked by loneliness and a fear of abandonment.
Scripture vs Experience Tension
- The gap between God’s promises and our experience creates confusion and deep sorrow.
- Feeling God’s silence can feel like a painful contradiction to scriptural assurances of God’s presence.
Falling Off The Bike Metaphor
- A counselee felt like she was falling and God, her Father, was simply watching without helping.
- This metaphor powerfully captures the loneliness and sense of abandonment in God’s silence.