God’s Silence Isn’t Cruelty—It’s Consistency: 1 Samuel 28

I got a little “big sister” as I read today. Like the Lord needed my protection…

“Saul asked the Lord what he should do. But the Lord did not answer him in any way. He did not give Saul a dream. He did not use the Urim and Thummim. He did not give a message to the prophets.” —1 Samuel 28:6 (EASY)

This scripture could easily be misinterpreted. Most might read this and think, “I thought God always answers.” I didn’t know what to do with a verse that flat-out says He didn’t.

The more I read the Word, the more I understand who God is—and the more I’ve experienced what it’s like to parent children who sometimes ignore my voice—the more I see this differently.

I’m confident that God wasn’t rejecting Saul. He was setting a boundary.

Saul had already been told, multiple times, what God wanted from him. He just didn’t listen. He made excuses. He justified partial obedience. He let fear guide his decisions instead of faith. And now, in this moment, we’re reading about how desperate he is—asking God for direction, to rescue him, now that everything’s crumbling.

I’m convinced, while God appears silent, He isn’t.

As a parent, I see this a bit differently. I can’t count how many times I’ve watched one of my kids try to backpedal after ignoring my voice—hoping to fix things or redo them when the consequences hit. While my heart breaks for them, I also know I have to let the weight of the decision land. Not because I’m mad, but because I’m committed to the boundaries I set—and I love them too much to pretend consequences aren’t real or don’t matter.

That’s what I see here. God isn’t cruel. He’s consistent. He had already told Saul what would happen. The silence wasn’t spiteful—it was the echo of earlier choices.

It reminds me how important it is to stay close enough to God to hear Him before it’s an emergency. To train my heart to listen when He speaks the first time. And to do the same in parenting—to be both loving and consistent, even when that means watching my kids sit in the space their own decisions created.

The good news? We serve a God who does respond to repentance. We get to walk that out daily—with our kids, just as we see the Lord do with us.