I Kings 19:11-15 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He replied again, “I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.” 15 Then the LORD told him, “Go back the same way you came…

God will sometimes set things into motion, but he harbors us, protects us and nurtures before things happen. He is not in the bad things that shake up our lives and destroy our plans.  We are probably scared, holed up in our cave as the wind roars and the ground shakes.  Yet even in the chaos, the destruction, the LOUDNESS of the enemy’s storms, He whispers to us.  He doesn’t yell above the sounds to get us to hear him, but His gentle voice cuts through the wrath of what is going on around us.  It gives us the strength to come out of our cave and to face the damage that awaits us.

I imagine myself going for a walk in the woods, minding my own business, getting refreshed, and then the Lord, looking a lot like Clark Kent, comes up next to me , takes my hand, and leads to a cave.  He starts a fire, gives me a blanket, smiles, and tells me to stay put, that I’ll be safe there.  Then he leaves, and I see him jump over the edge of the cliff, then waves at me as he flies by with his superman cape billowing behind him.  Soon I hear the wind start to howl.  I hear branches snap from trees, and rocks tumbling down the hillside.  I feel the cave that I am in tremble as a huge rock rolls off the top of it.  Then the ground starts to shake, and dust falls from the roof of my rock shelter.  The pathway in front of the cave disappears as the earth quakes.  Huge black clouds form and begin to unleash their pent up anger.  The thunder is deafening and I jump as lighting strikes a tree right outside the entrance of my den.  The tree bursts into flames and soon my cave is filled with smoke.  I’m thinking, “I just wanted to go out for a walk, mind my own business, enjoy nature.  I didn’t want to be caught by a natural disaster!”  I lay on the ground, pull the blanket over my head, and hum as the sounds of storm wage war outside.  I feel warm and safe and apprehensive at what it must look like outside.  I’m wondering, “How long this storm will last?  How will I ever clean up the mess?”  Soon, amidst the ROAR of the destruction, I hear God whisper in my ear that it’s OK to get up and take a look.  I ease my way to the mouth of the cave, holding onto the sides as I stumble to the opening.  Clark is standing next to me, pointing out where the fire started, what the wind revealed, how the earthquake changed the landscape.  He points out Superman hovering in the sky observing but not interfering with the calamities.  Superman smiles and salutes to me and Clark.  That’s sort of weird and funny.  I smile back, and start working my way through the mess, going back to where the path was clear, back to where things made sense, back to where there was no destruction.  Clark and Superman will take care of the mess left by the storm.  

Thank you Lord for being better than Superman.  Thank you for harboring me, thank you for revealing things, thank you for strengthening me.  Thank you for allowing the storms to come.  You are truly amazing.