It Took a Storm

Have you ever read that passage in 1 Kings 19 where God comes to the depressed prophet Elijah and speaks to him in a whisper after sending powerful wind, an earthquake and fire?  Here is the short passage:

"Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper."

Well, I'm pretty sure that last night, God didn't speak to me in a whisper, but in the loudest crack of thunder I have ever heard and it wasn't just once, it was over and over.  What was he trying to tell me?  Not unlike Elijah, He wanted me to know He was the creator of the universe and bigger than any problem I was seeing.  

Yes, God does speak in whispers and in a still small voice, but there are other places in Scripture where he actually does speak in a storm.  Job, for example, is another place where He uses a storm to talk to Job.  His friend, Elihu, even describes God's power and how He displays his power specifically in weather, starting in chapter 36 (I know this is a long passage, but read every word....it's amazing how weather is described in such incredible detail):

“He draws up the drops of water,
which distill as rain to the streams^[c];
²⁸ the clouds pour down their moisture
and abundant showers fall on mankind.
²⁹ Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds,
how he thunders from his pavilion?
³⁰ See how he scatters his lightning about him,
bathing the depths of the sea.
³¹ This is the way he governs^[d] the nations
and provides food in abundance.
³² He fills his hands with lightning
and commands it to strike its mark.
³³ His thunder announces the coming storm;
even the cattle make known its approach."

Then in 37:

"Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice,
to the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
³ He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.
⁴ After that comes the sound of his roar;
he thunders with his majestic voice.
When his voice resounds,
he holds nothing back.
⁵ God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways;
he does great things beyond our understanding.
⁶ He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’
and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’
⁷ So that everyone he has made may know his work,
he stops all people from their labor.^[a]
8 The animals take cover;
they remain in their dens.
⁹ The tempest comes out from its chamber,
the cold from the driving winds.
¹⁰ The breath of God produces ice,
and the broad waters become frozen.
¹¹ He loads the clouds with moisture;
he scatters his lightning through them.
¹² At his direction they swirl around
over the face of the whole earth
to do whatever he commands them.
¹³ He brings the clouds to punish people,
or to water his earth and show his love.

¹⁴ “Listen to this, Job;
stop and consider God’s wonders.
¹⁵ Do you know how God controls the clouds
and makes his lightning flash?
¹⁶ Do you know how the clouds hang poised,
those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?
¹⁷ You who swelter in your clothes
when the land lies hushed under the south wind,
¹⁸ can you join him in spreading out the skies,
hard as a mirror of cast bronze?"

Not unlike Job, I had been contending with God.  Yes, we had had a great reprieve with the tax bill, but in a funny way, it wasn't enough.  I still felt like we were not where I wanted to be financially.  God gave Satan permission to mess with Job and it nearly worked.  In my case, I don't know that Satan asked God if he could have permission to mess with me, but suddenly I was under attack again.  Guess who I unwittingly attacked?  My husband.  Not blatantly, not knowingly, but subtly.  It was by asking too many questions and by sinking into my own pit of despair that he fell in with me.  Then because he got discouraged, I was even more discouraged!!!!  I never want to give Satan too much credit, but in some ways it was the perfect attack - he wasn't having a lot of success by outside sources.  Most blips that came along we were handling pretty well.  It took an insider approach and he used a husband and a wife pitted against one another to bring us both down in one blow.  Pretty clever!  We nearly fell for it.  RM had been feeling really hopeful, that we were making progress!  I, on the other hand, could only see we weren't making progress fast enough.  Once we both saw what was happening, we identified it as a very obvious spirtitual attack - it was right where Satan wanted us, discouraged, feeling hopeless again, and suddenly the one person that we both needed encouragement from, the other spouse, was no longer there for us - we were both down and out.  Identifying it helped us see how we'd fallen for his ploys and how we needed to stay armed for the battle.  I'm embarassed that I can get so easily discouraged.  It seems this blog is more about discouragement than getting out of debt!  But, at the same time, I wanted to write the true story, as it happened and unfortunately, the true story shows my weaknesses.   I digress.....

That night, we were both sitting in our loft room, in a better place after having worked through the attack, enjoying the breezes brought on by a sudden storm when suddenly the house shook with the crack of thunder and the jolt of lightning that seemed right on top of us.  It happened again and again.  We looked at each other in awe.  Once the storm stopped,which was literally just minutes later and I'm not exaggerating, the sun came out and there was blue sky, I said to him, "I think God was trying to say something to us just now."  I was reminded of the story of Job again and how God spoke to him,

"Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

² “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
³ Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.

What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
²⁵ Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
²⁶ to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
²⁷ to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?

Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
The Lord said to Job:

² “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
Let him who accuses God answer him!”

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:
Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?"

Wow - that was exactly what I was doing, contending with God, obscuring his plans and words without knowledge.  God even starts his arguments off right away, out of a storm, questioning him about his knowlege of lightning, wind, rain and thunderstorms!  He even gets a little sarcastic, it seems to me, and asks if the lightning bolts report to him!  Was I trying to correct God, was I accusing God?  Yes, I probably was, so he sent a storm and spoke to me out of the storm, "Do you have an arm like God's and can your voice thunder like his?"  No, I don't and no I can't.  I have to admit once again, I had lost confidence in God's provision for that brief moment in time and I brought my husband down with me who counts on my encouragement!  He needs me to stay hopeful.  I am not unlike Job.  This is my identical answer to the Lord:

Then Job replied to the Lord:

² “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
³ You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.

⁴ “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
⁵ My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
⁶ Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”

 

That's it.  The end of the book of Job.  He is sorry, repentant, the test is over.  He discovers that God can do all things, no purpose of his can be thwarted.  He had spoken of things too wonderful for him to know, things he didn't understand.  Me, too.  My ears had also heard of Him, but now my eyes have seen Him - I despise myself and repent (maybe not in dust and ashes....!)

 

I've been through lots of storms on the farm here, but this one was different.  I hope I don't forget this experience too quickly.  Job's fortunes were returned to him twofold - that may or may not happen to me, but I've still learned a lesson.  I don't know that I'll think of thunder and lightning ever the same.