Category Archives: Faith and Practice

After the Storm

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A storm tore through Lennox this week—fierce winds up to 80 mph, trees uprooted, branches scattered like matchsticks, power lines down, and debris everywhere. It was the kind of storm that shakes you. Not just the windows, but your sense of calm, your plans for the day, maybe even your confidence in how secure things really are.

But something beautiful followed: neighbors with chainsaws, strangers with trailers, folks hauling branches who hadn’t even finished clearing their own yards yet. In moments like these, you remember just how much strength there is in a community that cares for one another.

It also reminded me of Elijah.

You probably know the story—how Elijah, worn out and afraid, hid in a cave on Mount Horeb, waiting to hear from God. A mighty wind tore through the mountains, then an earthquake, and then a fire. But God was not in any of those. Instead, Elijah heard the voice of the Lord in a still small whisper.

It’s a powerful image: the God of all creation not needing to shout over the storm, but speaking gently, personally, quietly.

And yet here’s what we must remember—God doesn’t whisper anymore.

That’s not to say He’s silent. Far from it. God has spoken—and with perfect clarity. As the author of Hebrews tells us, “In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son” (Heb. 1:2). He speaks today through His Word, which is sufficient to teach us what we are to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of us. Scripture reveals His will and His ways, not in shadows or signs, but in the fullness of truth centered on Jesus Christ.

We need not wait for another word or chase after whispers and signs, because God has already spoken everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). To look beyond His Word is not an act of greater faith, but of forgetfulness—forgetting that every promise of God is “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20).

As Beautiful Eulogy put it in their songs “Symbols and Signs:”

“Silly us, ignore the plain, we prefer a riddle
Dying to see a miracle while holding God’s diary looking for signs“

Or as the old hymn puts it:

“What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?”

We don’t need to chase storms or search caves to hear from God. He has already spoken in His Son. We just need to listen—to His Word, to His gospel, to the truth that still speaks louder than any storm.

SDG

The Spiritual Power of Small Things

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“For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice…”
Zechariah 4:10

Sometimes, I wonder if our goals aren’t just too big.

Not in the sense that they’re too hard for God—He’s never once been overwhelmed by our ambitions. But too big in the sense that they’re aimed in the wrong direction. We crave big churches, big ministries, big platforms, big influence. We dream of doing something great for God, but often we’re really trying to do something impressive for ourselves—with just enough God in it to keep us respectable.

It’s nothing new. The builders at Babel had a vision. They wanted to make a name for themselves, to reach the heavens, to establish a monument of permanence. But God wasn’t impressed. Their tower crumbled before it ever touched the sky—not because their engineering failed, but because their ambition was self-centered. It was a great goal with a crooked aim.

The story of Scripture tells a different kind of building project.

In Zechariah’s day, the exiles had returned from Babylon and were tasked with rebuilding the temple. The work was slow, unimpressive, and frankly disappointing. Compared to the glory of Solomon’s temple, this one looked like a sad shadow of former glory. People were weeping at the foundation (Ezra 3:12). Hope was hard to come by.

But the Lord said: “Do not despise the day of small things.” Why? Because the work wasn’t about size or spectacle—it was about faithfulness. It was never about the greatness of what they built, but about the greatness of the One they were building for.

The same Spirit who promised that rebuilding would succeed (Zech. 4:6) is still at work in us today. But He often moves through the quiet, the hidden, the uncelebrated.

Jesus seemed to delight in small things:
– a mustard seed
– a hidden treasure
– a single lost sheep
– a widow’s coin

He even said the whole kingdom of God is like yeast worked invisibly into dough.
It’s not that Jesus didn’t think big—He just knew the Father builds big things slowly and often invisibly.

Most days, Christian faithfulness doesn’t look like a tower reaching to the heavens. It looks like praying when no one sees. Forgiving when no one thanks you. Reading Scripture in the early morning stillness, even when your heart feels dull. Serving in the background. Holding your tongue. Loving the difficult.

These aren’t Instagram-worthy moments. But they’re mustard seeds—and Christ said that’s where the kingdom begins.

Small isn’t insignificant. It’s the ordinary soil where God grows extraordinary fruit.
So don’t measure your life by the size of your accomplishments—measure it by your faithfulness to the One who called you.

Maybe your day today feels unimpressive. Maybe your efforts feel small.
Good. You’re in the right place.

Because God isn’t building towers to our greatness.
He’s building a kingdom for His glory.
And it all starts with small things.

SDG