Engaging with God on Mute: A Review by Shirley Cameron

I really should have known better than to read Pete Greig’s new book in an airport and on a crowded aeroplane; as I choked back tears I’m sure people around me were thinking, “Weirdo”! I’m not alone in the emotional effect this book had on me.  In a recent interview, Pete said, “I am already receiving emails to tell me that God on Mute has made people laugh and it has made them cry.”  He would also love to see many more people consoled to continue to trust God, even in the darkness of their own unanswered prayers.  “I’d like God on Mute to contribute to the shaping of a culture of greater honesty in the church, whereby we can publicly echo the laments of the psalms, the despair of men like Job and even the doubts of the first disciples, without condemnation.”

The reason this book hurts, I think, is because it prompts us to face our most uncomfortable, unthinkable questions about God. Why does God allow terrible things to happen to his beloved children? Why does he allow us to suffer, and most importantly, why is he sometimes silent when we feel that we need him the most? Pete doesn’t provide easy, flippant answers, because to do so would be to degrade the depth of the suffering and pain that many people experience. With almost shocking honesty, he gives these topics both the time and the airspace that they deserve.

The book follows the structure of the Easter story; it examines Jesus’ awful experiences in Gethsemane (Oh God, please take this cup away from me, I can’t cope!) and on the cross (My God, why have you forsaken me…), and the deafening silence that followed his death on Easter Saturday. The biblical precedent for our experiences of suffering and silence couldn’t be more complete.

My tears over this book weren’t only tears of sadness, however. I was surprised to find immense encouragement and hope in it too; probably the last thing I expected from a book about unanswered prayer! As we know, the Easter story (like Pete’s book) doesn’t end on Saturday, but continues towards its stunning conclusion on Easter Sunday, when the full extent of God’s glorious plans are revealed, and we’re reminded where the source of all our hope and comfort truly lies.

Pete also demonstrates that, as we wait for our own Easter Sundays, we have an opportunity to grow into a deeper relationship with God. If we engage God’s silence by facing our fears honestly and by asking, pleading, crying our difficult questions out to Him, the silence doesn’t have to be terrifying and destructive; it can actually be an opportunity to enter into a more precious, intimate relationship with Him.

Next Page: 24-7 Leaders Share Experience, Endorsements and a Free Chapter of GoM