Many thanks to Mark for his sermon Sunday in which he asked if you’ve heard from God lately.  Mark reminded us that God speaks, and does so in many ways – with a voice like thunder, with a voice like Niagara Falls, and with a voice as soft as a whisper.  He speaks through the unimaginable power and beauty and the infinite diversity of His Creation, spreading from the infinitesimally small to the indescribably huge.  He speaks through His people.  Are you listening? 

A timely sermon indeed, at least for me.  On top of everything else the Year 2020 has hurled at us, in the last few days we found ourselves facing the ultimate rarity – two potential hurricanes taking aim at Louisiana in the same week.  And this on the week of the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  Sure enough, here we are, dealing with tremendous hurricane-inflicted devastation and loss of life.  My guess is that you wouldn’t be the only one if you are looking into the sky and wondering – “Where are you, God?  I don’t see You now.  I don’t hear You now.” 

Last week, someone told me pretty much these same words.  And, I realized that perhaps whether the voice of God is thundering or whispering may depend a lot upon your perspective.  As I listened to this person’s story – the story in which, from their perspective, God was silent – I was able to both hear and see God clearly, in every twist and turn of the story.  Was that because I’m a preacher and am just that much more spiritual than other people?  No.  I think my vision and my ability to hear God inside their story was because while this person was almost literally drowning inside the storm of their story, I was watching and listening from a distance.  

So, I went on my way, feeling pretty good about the sharpness of my spiritual vision, and the acuity of my spiritual hearing.  And then I walked right into the wall-to-wall coverage of the double-barreled hurricane threat to Louisiana.  Like many of you, I rejoiced as Tropical Storm Marco became a dud and fizzled out.  I even felt that this was an answer to prayer – and God was speaking so all could hear His voice.

But then, as Hurricane Laura did not fizzle out, but instead grew stronger, and I heard several experts on The Weather Channel say a phrase that I have never heard before – “un-survivable storm surge” – I began to question God again.    How could The Lord speak Marco out of existence, and, at virtually the same time, speak Laura into an un-survivable storm?  Suddenly, my spiritual vision and hearing didn’t seem to be working very well, again.  Suddenly, there were more questions than answers, because now, my perspective had changed, and I was, in a sense, going to be right in the storm. 

Isn’t it interesting that once, when a truly great man of God had lots of questions, God spoke to him out of a storm [or a “whirlwind” as several translations of Job 40:6-7 say]?  Since Job was a man of the desert, I tend to picture this “whirlwind” as a “dust devil”.  But, for us, perhaps a hurricane is a better picture. 

And sure enough, God spoke in the storm, and is still speaking out of the ravages the storm left behind.  Before the storm arrived, I was contacted by the Associate Director for Churches of Christ Disaster Relief, Inc. [Nashville].  I have seen on Facebook that both this group and the Church of Christ Disaster Response Team out of Ohio are now on the ground in Lake Charles, providing assistance to those in need.  Then, I received a message from an ACU friend who is in charge of a team coming down from California to help.  Nor should we forget that the expected “un-survivable” storm surge was almost completely mitigated by a strange, unexpected, and unexplained “jog” to the west just as the eye of Laura came onshore. 

Are you listening?

Today, I was reminded by a friend of the story in John 9 of the blind man who Jesus healed.  You remember this one – we talked about it at length earlier this year as part of our “Vision” theme.  The disciples tried to show off their religious knowledge by asking Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  And you remember the answer, don’t you?  The “disaster” of the man’s blindness was not punishment for sin, but so that God’s power could be seen [or, as The Passion Translation so beautifully puts it: “It happened to him so that you could watch him experience God’s miracle.” John 9:3].  

 I told my friend in California that I was praying for her Team that is coming to Louisiana, and that wonderful things would happen through them AND for them as they serve and sweat and work and cry and give in the name of Jesus. 

God is still speaking.  Open my ears, Lord, and open my eyes.

~Shepherd Ambrose Ramsey