“By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces. By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?” Job 26:12-14
We found parking and a great spot even though we were getting our beach day off to a late start. The sun would occasionally peek through the overcast skies with a slight breeze blowing, a perfect day to be at the beach. We had been there a couple of hours when I noticed the family next to us packing up their beach gear, and I overheard the lady say she wasn’t going to stay and get struck by lightning. I wondered where she got her weather intel because the sky was cloudy but didn’t look ominous. But a few minutes later, the shrill lifeguards’ whistle sounded, and they were exiting the beach also. When the lifeguards leave their stand and head for the parking lot that is your clue to start packing. The sky, in just a few minutes, had grown intensely dark. As we hurried to our car, the lifeguards were just ahead of us, and we could hear a voice on their radio urging them to take cover immediately. It started to rain, and the thunder in the distance was getting closer. When we crossed the bridge to come off the island, the rain was coming down so hard it was difficult to see. I pulled into a parking lot to wait out the storm for safety. As we sat in the car and watched some of the most ferocious lightning I’ve ever witnessed, the thunder’s roar was even fiercer and, at times, shook the car.
Job’s reply to his friends in Chapter 26 is marked by the many questions he asks of them in his response. He is describing the wisdom and power of God and asking them to contemplate his questions regarding whom they believe God is and who He really is. I pondered this verse from my devotional this week and thought about how God manifests Himself in his infinite wisdom in a gentle whisper. “After the wind there was an earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:11-13). So often in our lives, we look for the thunderous answer, the loud clapping approval, and the deafening assurance. But God speaks in whispers to our souls. And I believe it’s because, as I experienced while sitting in my car during the storm, cowardly cringing at each lightning strike and roaring thunder, my mind was obsessed with the storm’s power. There was no conversation or thoughts of anything else. The power and intensity were consuming. If God were to speak out in thunder, who could understand Him? We would be so fixated and overwhelmed by His power that the words would be lost. Instead, what we see of God and what he reveals to us about His nature is gently whispered in our hearts. A brush of His breath bears the same clarity as words fully spoken in a thunderous boom. Be thankful for His whispers and realize they are just the beginning of all He is and does. And that’s your Tuesday Tidbit.