I’m struggling with something and wonder if you can give me some perspective. It has been several weeks since I’ve posted a new blog at JimBuchan.com. I’m feeling pretty guilty about this, but I don’t know if I should or not.

It’s not as if I have nothing to say. I’ve ghostwritten thousands of words for various clients. I’ve preached twice. I’ve sent out numerous tweets to my nearly 35K followers @BestBibleTweets.

But I just haven’t felt inspired to write any new blog posts, and I’m rather bummed out about it.

This uncomfortable experience has given me flashbacks from 30+ years ago, when I heard the strangest sermon I’ve ever heard. Art Katz was the guest preacher in our church, and he started his message by saying, “I don’t have any message from the Lord today…”

Wow. I couldn’t believe he said that. Although I’ve heard countless sermons over the years that didn’t seem to be a “word from the Lord,” I’ve never heard a preacher admit  that fact!

While I don’t remember everything that transpired after Art Katz shared his stunning announcement, I do remember this: Before long, the altar was filled with people on their faces before God, crying out for a fresh outpouring of His Spirit.

Art Katz helped me see that it’s smart to shut up when God hasn’t given you anything to say. Sometimes that gives Him a chance to say things directly to His people, without any chatter from you in the background.

I’ve also been questioning the common assumption that God is constantly  speaking, even if we aren’t constantly listening. What if He chooses to be silent for a time? What if He decides to hide His face so we are caused to seek Him again? This was David’s experience in Psalm 30:6-8, prompting him shake off his complacency and cry out to the Lord more than ever.

And what about the 400 “silent years” between the end of Malachi and the beginning of Matthew? Surely God must have been speaking to His servants during that time. But it seems He had given up blogging for a while. So maybe I should feel guilty after all.

What do you think? Have you had similar experiences to Art Katz? To David? To me?