Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest. Psalm 50:3
God comes to His children when they cry out for help. It is His promise to us. Like any parent, He can distinguish a whine from a moan, a shriek of pain from an angry outburst. He knows when we really need to be in His presence, to be held tightly and soothed. So why is it we so often do not feel Him near to us in our times of trouble?
Before Him is a devouring fire. It is not the kind that is a blazing hot fire that will scorch and burn us. It is more of a cleansing one. As a brush fire wipes out all the weeds that are strangling the vegetation, He can clear the clutter around us. It is a white blaze of truth and grace that consumes everything, including our sins and our fears. Until that happens, we cannot see His mercy in our midst.
There is a tempest around Him. Like in the movie The Twister, we can be caught in the vortex or the eye of the storm. It seems eerily still and void. But around us God is at work. In the parameter of our lives His winds of justice and power are blowing, removing debris and chaos. We just can’t see it.
That is when faith comes in. We must believe what we cannot see, and trust that our God is a God who keeps His promises. If you feel that you are caught in a void and your life seems stagnant, listen for the sound of His whisper in the winds. If you feel things are being removed around you, hold onto the hope that He is making a path for you to travel, clearing the clutter from your heart and devouring the distractions in your life so it won’t strangle you. Let go and let Him work.
