This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Everybody Always" by Bob Goff. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
Like this article? Sign up for a free trial here .
Do you ever find yourself searching for God’s guiding voice? What do you do if you don’t know God’s plan for you?
The truth is that God is silent. But just because you can’t hear his voice doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you. God knows that he gave you everything you need to live your authentic life, He’s just waiting for you to live it.
Keep reading to learn more about what Bob Goff has to say about God’s silence.
God Is Silent
You likely have specific questions you want answers to, and when you ask God those questions, you wait for an answer. But you can’t hear God’s voice, and maybe you believe that means He isn’t listening. Chances are you aren’t really waiting for God’s literal voice, but rather instructions or a boost of confidence to be able to feel good about what you’re doing. But God is silent and is already confident that you know what to do. His silence or lack of “signs” does not signify his indifference or lack of love for you. He knows you will grow more in your faith and life if you try to find courage on your own.
While you’ve been waiting for God to speak, He’s been waiting for you to act. When God is silent, He is still communicating with you. Your faith lets you understand that His silence means you have everything you need and know everything you need to know to follow your path. But to understand the power of this silence, you also need to be silent. Clear your head of doubts, distractions, and external noise, and in the beautiful quiet, you will find God.
All of your successes and failures have not been random. God doesn’t expect you to do everything perfectly. Becoming love doesn’t mean loving everyone the right way all the time. God’s delight is in your commitment to His love and attempts to live within it. The manners in which you either fail or succeed are your lessons. What you learn from those experiences help you grow and bring you closer to your faith. Your life up to this point has prepared you for everything there is to come, and when God is silent, He’s watching from above, sending you his grace without interference because He believes you’ve got this.
God Gave You the Tools to Carve Your Own Path
When you become love, you understand God’s belief in you, and it gives you strength. You recognize that you don’t need as much guidance as you think you do. All any of us really need is someone who believes in us. Hopefully, you have other people God has sent to your life that know you as well as He does and trust you to find your own way through life. You may not always understand what’s happening to you, but when you’re surrounded by the trust of others, you can trust in yourself to figure out what to do and do it.
You are not unique in your desire to approach life with caution or fear. And you are not the only one who doesn’t understand God’s plan for you at all times. But when you become love, you understand that God has given you compassion, love, and patience with yourself and others. You can take the trust God has in you and turn that into belief in another. When you become love, you always know the way forward because it is bathed in God’s love.
Look around your life. What are you afraid to do? What have you always wanted to try but didn’t know how? Who are you hiding from or wish you could connect with? Who has wronged you or broken your heart? Where is your compassion needed? Who needs someone to believe in them? Believe that God has given you everything you need to live your authentic life, and carry that trust forward as you give love to everyone you know and don’t know. You already have the power of God in you. He’s waiting for you to use it.
———End of Preview———
Like what you just read? Read the rest of the world's best book summary and analysis of Bob Goff's "Everybody Always" at Shortform .
Here's what you'll find in our full Everybody Always summary :
- How to live your life like Jesus lived his
- Why you need to open yourself up to God's love and give love to others
- How to deepen your faith by focusing on love rather than showing that you "agree" with God
