"A small voice in the back of my head whispers an answer. Maybe he's sending you a message, it says. A message. Saying what? Then I know. There’s only one good reason Haymitch could be withholding water from me. Because he knows I’ve almost found it."
Katniss Everdeen The Hunger Games
"Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change."
2 Peter 3:8-9 (MSG)
One of my favorite series is the Hunger Games. I've read or listened (audio book) to each of the books, at least, ten times. I've seen all the movies, read movie trivia, watched interviews with the cast and director, the Mockingjay whistle from the movies is my text alert tone! I love the Hunger Games! Anyway...I was thinking recently about how I react when God is silent, or appears to be so and an example from the Hunger Games came to mind.
For those who don't know much about the story, Katniss Everdeen is a 17-year-old who is living in the post-apocalyptic America that's been reorganized into a country called Panem which has a primary Capitol city supported by 12 districts. Each of the districts is responsible for exporting something that the Capitol has need of. For example, District 11 is agriculture, District 12 is mining etc. As a result, of a horrific rebellion that endangered their way of life, the government in the Capitol of Panem established the Hunger Games as a way to keep the people who live in the 12 districts under control. Every year two tributes from each district one girl and one boy are randomly chosen to fight to the death in an arena until one victor remains. The games are broadcast to all of the districts and in the Capitol and are mandatory viewing for everyone....I know it sounds really dark...which it can be...but it's a good series! Honest!....Anyway, Katniss' sister Prim is chosen in the reaping to go to the games, however, Katniss volunteers in her place so Prim won't have to go. Haymitch is Katniss' mentor, he's a previous victor in the games and he is responsible for helping her and Peeta, the boy tribute, prepare for the games. It was also Haymitch's job to secure sponsor gifts while Katniss and Peeta were in the arena. These gifts were really expensive, and would be things that would give the tributes an advantage or help of some kind.
Now that we're all caught up...
The scene that came to mind was one from the first book which kind of set up a theme that continues throughout the rest of them. On the first day of Katniss' first games, she runs from the launch pad and into the forest to get as far away from the other tributes as possible. Unfortunately, by doing this, she is also running away from the only known (to her) water source. As she treks through the woods she becomes desperate for water. Knowing that there are cameras all around and there's a good chance that she can be seen all over Panem, she begins to make a whispered plea for water. She knows that there has to be a sponsor out there that will give her some water, right? But no water comes.
Two days pass, still no water. Knowing that Haymitch controls the flow of the sponsor gifts, Katniss begins to question her mentor. Why is he withholding something she so desperately needs? Thoughts that Haymitch must hate her swirl through her mind. That's it he must or he would send water. And if he doesn't hate her then he must not be paying attention. He must not be watching. These thoughts cause Katniss to become wrapped up in herself and threaten to consume her. But then a small voice at the back of her mind breaks through the turmoil:
Final Thoughts: One thing that is the hardest for me is waiting on/understanding God's timing. His timing and my timing are rarely ever the same. But His timing is always perfect and always better than mine. So I encourage you, if you're waiting on something and God is quiet at the moment, stop and ask Him what message is He trying to send you? He may be working behind the scenes setting stuff up and getting it ready for you. He may be getting you ready for it. God's blessings are never that far away but remember they are His to give in His own time. Time for Him isn't the same as it is for us. Don't fret and worry about when it will all happen, if He's got it under control then it (whatever it is) will happen when it should. Use this waiting period to grow and learn about Him :)
(Side note: Sometimes, God is speaking, we just aren't listening! So make sure you're listening!)
"Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change."
2 Peter 3:8-9 (MSG)
Now that we're all caught up...
The scene that came to mind was one from the first book which kind of set up a theme that continues throughout the rest of them. On the first day of Katniss' first games, she runs from the launch pad and into the forest to get as far away from the other tributes as possible. Unfortunately, by doing this, she is also running away from the only known (to her) water source. As she treks through the woods she becomes desperate for water. Knowing that there are cameras all around and there's a good chance that she can be seen all over Panem, she begins to make a whispered plea for water. She knows that there has to be a sponsor out there that will give her some water, right? But no water comes.
Two days pass, still no water. Knowing that Haymitch controls the flow of the sponsor gifts, Katniss begins to question her mentor. Why is he withholding something she so desperately needs? Thoughts that Haymitch must hate her swirl through her mind. That's it he must or he would send water. And if he doesn't hate her then he must not be paying attention. He must not be watching. These thoughts cause Katniss to become wrapped up in herself and threaten to consume her. But then a small voice at the back of her mind breaks through the turmoil:
"A small voice in the back of my head whispers an answer. Maybe he's sending you a message, it says. A message. Saying what? Then I know. There’s only one good reason Haymitch could be withholding water from me. Because he knows I’ve almost found it."
Katniss Everdeen The Hunger Games
It's in those moments that I have to stop and remember all that He HAS done for me, how much He has given me, how much He has provided. And I have to remember, that if God is seemingly silent it's because He has a reason. Maybe, like Katniss, what I need/what I'm looking for is just around the corner and God knows that if I stop fretting and trustingly wait on Him just a little longer I'm going to stumble upon it when I least expect it. He's always provided for me in the past, why would He stop now?
See Haymitch was on the outside, he had a perspective and information that Katniss didn't/couldn't have from where she was in the arena. He could see where she was in relation to the water source that she did, in fact, find a short time thereafter. He also knew that if he were to go to the sponsors and beg for money to send water to Katniss now, he'd have a harder time getting them to buy something she could really need later on in the games.
Sometimes I'm like Katniss in this example. I get so focused on where I am at the moment and satisfying my immediate need that I lose sight of everything else. When my desire/want and even sometimes a very important need, isn't immediately fulfilled, I tend to bow up at God. I'll throw my hands up in despair and listen to the voices that say:
"Jesus doesn't care about me. How could He see the state that I'm in, the needs that I have and not immediately come to my aid? Isn't He watching? Doesn't He see what's going on? I know He has the resources."
Final Thoughts: One thing that is the hardest for me is waiting on/understanding God's timing. His timing and my timing are rarely ever the same. But His timing is always perfect and always better than mine. So I encourage you, if you're waiting on something and God is quiet at the moment, stop and ask Him what message is He trying to send you? He may be working behind the scenes setting stuff up and getting it ready for you. He may be getting you ready for it. God's blessings are never that far away but remember they are His to give in His own time. Time for Him isn't the same as it is for us. Don't fret and worry about when it will all happen, if He's got it under control then it (whatever it is) will happen when it should. Use this waiting period to grow and learn about Him :)
(Side note: Sometimes, God is speaking, we just aren't listening! So make sure you're listening!)
"Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change."
2 Peter 3:8-9 (MSG)
“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands. Wild animals will say ‘Thank you!’ —the coyotes and the buzzards— Because I provided water in the desert, rivers through the sun-baked earth, Drinking water for the people I chose, the people I made especially for myself, a people custom-made to praise me."
Isaiah 43:18-19 (MSG)
"When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, “You’re going to have a big family, Abraham!”
Abraham didn’t focus on his own impotence and say, “It’s hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child.” Nor did he survey Sarah’s decades of infertility and give up. He didn’t tiptoe around God’s promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That’s why it is said, “Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right.” But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God."
Romans 4:18-25 (MSG)
This was very helpful and encouraging. I to also enjoy the hunger games.
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