My heart was heavy as I sat on my back porch. I was on the verge of tears for the umpteenth time. My husband was entering his seventh month of unemployment and there wasn’t a prospect in sight.
I went outside to intentionally connect with God. I love sitting still in the early morning hours and listening to His creation wake up to a new day. My attention that morning, though, was squarely fixed on the large pecan tree in the middle of the yard. It loomed large and kept vying for my attention. It sat motionless. No squirrels were scrambling on it, no birds were perching in it, not even a leaf was quivering near it. It was eerily and perfectly still. I tried to refocus my mind to pray or worship, but inevitably, within minutes, I was drawn back to a tree that appeared to be frozen in time. A tree that mirrored my life.
How long, God?
When will he get a job?
Why won’t You provide one?
Tears were brimming when I sighed loudly and looked up at the sky. What I saw took me by surprise and instantly stole my attention.
Clouds were rapidly racing across the sky. They were silently and majestically engaged in a mad dash to other end of my peripheral view. I couldn’t believe it. How had I missed this? I had been sitting for over 15 minutes riveted by a tree that was not allowing a single leaf to wave while some mighty, yet completely muted, force of wind was mightily moving clouds directly above me. How could things be moving overhead, yet at a standstill right in front of me?
How is that even possible?
At that moment, the silence I felt from God was broken. I knew what He was communicating through those clouds. It was a visual reminder of Him at work in my life. I had been so fixated on what wasn’t happening, that I nearly missed what was! Though I felt painfully paused, I realized He wasn’t. In fact, He had never stopped moving.
The tears that had been gathering finally spilled over. Not out of sadness, but gratitude. In that moment nothing had outwardly changed with my situation, yet my heart had found a place of rest.
I was not forgotten.
Occasionally, we catch a glimpse of God speaking through the wind in Scripture. It’s first appearance flutters quickly through the story of Noah, though often missed, due to the dominant themes of ark construction and flood management. A closer look; however, reveals God’s tender and timely word of encouragement that was exhaled straight to Noah’s heart. A message that is still relevant to us today.
Noah was not lost or forgotten to the great flood, but I wonder if some days he felt that way. We often read biblical stories with the end in mind and forget these heroes and heroines of the faith experienced the emotions of living in real time.
For example, we assume Noah knew when dry ground would reappear, but Scripture doesn’t note that detail. God announced it would rain forty days and forty nights (Genesis 7:4), but He failed to mention how long the water would linger in full. Apparently, it took a seat and got comfortable for 150 days (Gen. 7:24). Can you imagine how Noah felt on day 58? 104? 149? I suspect that some days he struggled to believe he would ever see dry land again. I know I would.
Thankfully, though, God blew in at just the right time.
“But God remembered Noah… and He sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded” (Gen. 8:1).
That sudden gust was a reminder of God’s faithfulness and His ability to control the situation. It was a voice of encouragement whispering to Noah’s heart that He was not forgotten and that a plan was still in place.
The wind didn’t signify the end of the story, though.
Noah remained afloat for three more months before the mountain tops were visible and another 40 days until he bravely cracked open a window to have a looksie. Two more weeks and a few doves later, Noah finally set foot on dry land.
No, the wind was not the end of the story for Noah. I suspect it arrived in a timely fashion, though. And sometimes that is all we need to persevere. We just need a breezy reminder of God’s sovereignty and care over our lives. An indication that we are not alone and that He sees our struggle. A sign that we are still greatly loved.
Oh, what a whiff of His presence can do for our weary hearts!
Three months after God spoke through the wind in my backyard, my husband was gainfully employed again. Interestingly enough, the job he took had actually started the interview process two months before I saw those clouds chasing each other across the sky. So, yes, God had been at work and in His perfect timing the interview process was completed.
If you find yourself struggling with God’s silence or His lack activity in your life, ask Him to breathe a reminder of His presence into your path of perseverance. Spend some time outdoors, quieting yourself in His creation and searching for His gentle whisper. You might not hear what signifies the end of your heartache or brings your journey to a close, but it could be a well-timed reminder that He is still at work in your life.
God remembered Noah and He has not forgotten you.
