After the Storm

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

God Speaks

What is the word of God?
The holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.

The Westminster Larger Catechism: With Scripture Proofs. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996.

How do I know that God exists? This is meaning of the second question of the Larger Catechism, and the answer, in brief, is that we know God exists through the light of nature and the evidence of His works in the world. However, because of our fallen nature, not only are we morally corrupted in sin, but our minds are darkened to the knowledge of God. Therefore, God was pleased to give His Word and Spirit, that we may know Him, learn to fear and love Him, and honor Him as our God and Lord.

The followup question, then, is “What is the word of God?” Where do we go to find what God says about Himself, about us, and about how we can be saved from sin and death and reconciled to God?

The catechism is straightforward in its answer, “the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God, the only rule of faith and obedience.”

That should settle it, right?

Why then do people continue to search for God as though they were without at witness? Why do people come to their pastor and ask, “What is God’s will for my life?” Why do people long to hear God speak, and are so hungry to hear a word, any word, that they will turn to spiritualism and false teachers to satisfy their hunger?

The “spiritual but not religious” crowd will tell you they believe in God, but downplay the authority of the written Word of God. They will trust a “pastor” who will stand up and say, “God spoke to me last night, and here’s my word for you today…” long before they’ll willingly sit under a pastor who opens the Scripture and says, “Thus says the Lord.” They will build their belief about who God is on their feelings and preferences, rather than on how God has revealed Himself in His Word. They will discern God’s will for their lives by following their own heart, ignoring the fact that God’s Word teaches us that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

I know of people who have prayed that God would give them a sign that He loves them, cares for them, and is listening to their prayers – wanting something written in the clouds – while their Bible is closed and unread. The Christian Hip-Hop group Beautiful Eulogy writes, “

We prefer a riddle
Dying to see a miracle
While holding God’s diary
Looking for signs

Friends, if you want to know God’s Will for your life, look to God’s Word.

As Justin Peters is noted for saying, “If you want to hear God speak to you, read His Word. If you want to hear Him speak audibly, read it out loud.”

If you want to know what God is really like; if you want to know the power of His love, grace, and mercy; if you want to know the wisdom of God; if you want to know God’s plans for your life; if you want to discern God’s good and perfect will for your life; if you want to know how to live in a way that would please Him and give Him glory…

Look to God’s Word.

SDG