After Malachi’s final words, God fell silent for 400 years. For 400 years God gave no new vision, prophecy, prophet or word. But is silence the same as stillness? God’s promise to send Elijah (fulfilled in John the Baptist…the text for next week) lingered in the background. Peter later reminds us that God is not slow in keeping His promises, but patient. In seasons of silence, God is preparing hope to break through. God’s timing is always perfect even when it feels delayed, and this is our Thread of Hope.