Divine Silence and Indirection
Adapted from Revelation, by Janiece Johnson, from the Maxwell Institute's Themes In the Doctrine and Covenants series.
If revelation is abundant in the Restoration, then why are there times when we feel as though silence reigns? (38:12). At times we cry out, “O God where are thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?” (121:1–2). Even a half hour of “silence in heaven” in God’s timeline can feel like an eternity to us (88:95). Even if it will eventually be “but a small moment,” right now we may be asking, “O Lord, how long?” (121:7, 3).
Unexpectedly, when we’ve grown in revelation and are beginning to better understand how it is that God speaks to us individually, there will be times when the answers don’t come, and the heavens are silent. What happens when we cannot fix It? When, whatever the source, we can’t find the answer to end the silence? These are the times when we call out, “Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God” (Psalms 83:1). Just as there is no one-size-fits-all formula to learning the process of revelation, there is no easy answer at such a time. Moreover, I am not sure that successfully navigating away the silence is always the goal.
In one of many injunctions throughout scripture to seek the Lord, Isaiah pleads with his people, “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him when he is near.” If He is near, take advantage of the moment. Forsake sin and repent when needed, for the Lord “will have mercy . . . and abundantly pardon.” The rationale for this, at least in part, seems to be because of our inability to always predict how God will act, for the Lord tells us, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:6–8, echoed and reiterated in Doctrine and Covenants 88:62–3). For those who are actively seeking God’s help, this unpredictability can wreak havoc on our souls and our sense of a relationship with God if we expect that God will always respond when we ask. Just as the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants offer models for an abundance of revelation, there are likewise theological models for those times when answers are not forthcoming.
Firstly, sometimes the silence has a clinical source—anxiety or depression that block our way—and we are doing what we can. That requires significant patience on our part—patience with ourselves and patience with the Lord. Sometimes, the heavens fall silent because there is something that we need to change, and if we are honest with ourselves, we can change it. If we need to repent, repent. Are we willing to give away those sins that impede our way?
However, we are not always the problem. Sometimes when the heavens feel shut to us, we incorrectly assume it is punishment even when we have faithfully sought to communicate with God and seek God’s will. Those thoughts can only be destructive. Adam Miller encourages us to lean into the silence. He suggests, “You may discover that God’s silence is not itself a rebuke but an invitation. The heavens aren’t empty, they’re quiet. And God, rather than turning you away, may be inviting you to share silence with him.”[1]
In August 1833, before Joseph Smith began to hear of the tragedy of the Saints being expelled from Jackson County, Missouri, he received a revelation that possibly ignited his concern for the Saints there (section 97). Oliver Cowdery arrived in Kirtland three days later with some details about the horror the Saints were experiencing, details that would grow over time. Joseph worried. He was immersed in his own chaos in Kirtland and couldn’t process what happened to the Saints in the place that was to be the center place of Zion (57:3). He needed instruction from the Lord. In a letter to Church leaders in Missouri shortly thereafter, we see him crying out, “O Lord What more dost thou require at their hands before thou wilt come and save them?”[2]
And the Lord was silent.
For four months.
Surely, the need for guidance from the Lord felt critical in this moment of despair—all the more urgent because it involved his fellow Saints, those who had chosen to follow him. However, Joseph had to wait.
In this instance, returning to the August revelation (section 97) might have helped him. We might read the revelation quickly and write off the beginning as a flowery preamble, yet when we consider Joseph’s context, we begin to feel the weight of the words. Maybe those words didn’t initially stick with Joseph, but they spoke directly to his current moment whether he recognized it or not. The revelation began with a reminder to Joseph that he and the Lord were friends. Joseph did not treat the value of friendship lightly—he would later call it “the grand fundamental prin[c]iple.”[3] And he had developed his own relationship with the Lord over years, through many revelatory conversations. The Lord called His friend to “fear not,” and to let his heart “be comforted.” To rejoice, to be grateful, and to wait “patiently on the Lord.” The Lord assured Joseph He had heard him and that He had covenanted with Joseph “with an immutable covenant” that He would respond to his prayers. I want to pause here. We’ve discussed speaking as a part of God’s character, but here the covenantal language suggests that it isn’t just God’s inclination to speak and communicate with us, but it is a contract as we develop a relationship with Him. The timing might not be what we desire, but He will speak.
The Lord continued by assuring Joseph of the transformative power of His atonement, that "all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory” (98:1–3). Things felt desperate, but Joseph had to continue to wait “patiently on the Lord.” He had to lean into the silence if it were to transform him. Moreover, as the revelation continued, practicing patience would not only be necessary in communicating with the Lord but also in figuring out how to respond to the Saints’ enemies patiently and not out of revenge (98:23).
By the middle of December, Joseph understood more completely the dire situation of the Saints in Jackson County. After four long months, the Lord spoke through him specifically to the Saints who had “been afflicted, and persecuted, and cast out.” The Lord again testified of the importance of a relationship with Him and the transformational power of the atonement. He called out the Saints’ sin. Yet He also offered reassurance that this tragedy, even with the Saints’ own sins and failings, could be turned for their good. They were still His, and this pressure and darkness could transform them into His “jewels” (101:2–3).
Again Joseph’s task was to wait and trust in the Lord. “Let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in my hands; be still and know that I am God” (101:16). When I encounter a crisis in my own life, my first inclination is to put my head down and get to work—I feel like I just need to do something. However, the Lord doesn’t often give me a laundry list of things to do or fix, but more often quietly whispers, “Be still.” “Be still and know that I am God” is its own kind of action (Psalms 46:10, Doctrine and Covenants 101:16). And sometimes the most difficult thing the Lord asks of us. That was true in the 1833 crisis: The Lord assured Joseph and the Jackson County Saints that in a future “day when the Lord shall come, he shall reveal all things,” but for now, their charge was to be still (101:32).
Joseph’s waiting did not paralyze him. He did what he could for the Saints in Jackson County with the information and the direction he already had. And sometimes, as we wait and lean into the darkness, we find our own answer by doing the opposite—the principle of indirection. This is best exemplified by one of the hard sayings of Jesus: “Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25). The only way to ultimately find our life is to do the opposite.
[1] Adam Miller, Letters to a Young Mormon, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2018), 35–36.
[2] Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson County, Missouri, 18 August 1833, 1, The Joseph Smith Papers, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-church-leaders-in-jackson-county-missouri-18-august-1833.
[3] Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 3, 15 July 1843–29 February 1844, 13, The Joseph Smith Papers, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-december-1842-june-1844-book-3-15-july-1843-29-february-1844/19?highlight=friendship%20the%20grand%20fundamental.