And behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before before Yahweh, but Yahweh was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but Yahweh was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but Yahweh was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper (1 Kings 19:11-12, ESV).
I wonder if the biggest task of our life is to hear–to really hear, and know–the voice of God.
I wonder because some people seem to have it figured out so easy. Airplanes crash into skyscrapers, hurricanes devastate entire communities, an earthquake levels a whole nation and God is telling us he’s mad with those sinners.
I wonder if in the fall, creation itself became warped and distorted. I wonder if, instead of an instrument of what God does–natural disasters his personal weapons of mass destruction–creation is itself a character in this drama of existence.
The world is a dark place. I don’t think it is God who makes things darker.
Over the past ten days I have gone through two boxes of tissue and a whole carton of sinus medication. All because of an unwelcome, microscopic critter, my body has reacted violently in sneezes and coughs and several buckets of snot. There is something in my body that’s not supposed to be there, and so my body is reacting to get rid of it.
And because of the fall, the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve–the image bearers of God–die, decay, and are buried in the ground. There is something in creation that is not supposed to be there. Does creation quake and storm to rid itself of the “germ” Death?
Maybe. I wonder. But what I don’t wonder, is that God is light in darkness. That God hears the cries of the poor and needy. My hunch is that God did not speak in the earthquake, but that He is speaking in the low whispers of those now bringing hope and restoration and life in Haiti.
Fiftyeight 