We had planned to move for two years. When our oldest graduated from high school, we would put our house on the market and head west. She graduated and the sign went up a week afterwards, out front of our home. We visited schools in the new town. We picked out our new church.

Then, something odd happened- silence.

Our house didn’t sell. Our new schools didn’t materialize. We had to think of Plan B and C. All the while, we prayed and asked for God’s providence over our lives. We doubted ourselves. We resolved to choose obedience rather than our own path, hoping that that would bring joy.

It didn’t. Instead, it produced confusion and a touch of resentment. Why God can’t you answer us? What are you saying in the midst of your silence?

Months later, I would learn that God’s silence, while frustrating, wasn’t rejection. It wasn’t a withholding of love. Rather, it was God waiting for the right time to reveal something, to teach something. Over time, it became less about clever planning and more about faithfulness. It became more about being present in the now and not obsessing over the future.

God’s silence wasn’t rejection. It was simply a way of communicating that I didn’t understand at the time it was happening.