She's been struggling for some weeks now with the fact that she has not heard God talk. It makes no sense to her that she keeps talking to God, but never hears anything back. I've tried telling her about all the ways God speaks to us- through scripture, nature, other people, that still small voice, but it's no good. She firmly believes that God can, and should, speak to her audibly, and all I can think to say is, "why not?"
And so now she prays, "Thanks for nothing."
I visited my grandmother today, the greatest woman of faith I have ever known. I asked her what to tell Aliyah, my little girl who is angry with a God who isn't talking to her. Her answer, "It's remarkable that a child her age is even asking the question. What do you tell her? I don't know. I still ask the same question myself, and if I haven't figured it out yet, after 91 years, you can't expect a 5-year-old to understand."
She went on to talk about her struggles with her faith, the questions that frustrate her still, and her own fears. She keeps looking, asking, reading, wondering. She's not angry, just still growing and listening. She, too, wants to hear God. "Don't worry," she tells me, "Aliyah will keep praying, and eventually she will hear God's voice."
Why not?
