Breath

After the earthquake a fire passed; but Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a still small voice.

1 Kings 19:12

The woman sensed that something needed her attention. It was like a small, silent breath, but she could not identify it. She only knew it was strangely unsettling and quietly insistent.

For a moment, she listened to the call of this gentle Voice. It was like a breath. But something troubled her. Even the busyness of her family and career would not mute the tugging in her soul.

She thought to herself, “I will go to the seashore. There, the roar of the waves and gusty winds will quiet the persistent Voice.” She basked in the warmth of the sun. She felt the soothing brush of the sea breeze and tasted the salty spray.

But the tender Voice still called.

“I will go to the wide-open prairie.” There, the comforting breath of the wind would rush and whistle over the fields of Indian grass. The sound of grunting bison and yapping prairie dogs would fill the air of the prairie land.

Surely, here, the Voice will not intrude.

But the tender Voice still breathed her name.

“I will visit the great falls in the East,” she thought. “I will go high in the mountains, where the falls crash like thunder into the basin below. No voice could penetrate there.”

But the tender Voice persisted.

Now the woman could almost detect an earnest plea in the Voice. It seemed to beg her to stop and hear the hopeful message. “I know, she thought. I will go to the deepest cavern. The pitch darkness and the deafening silence will mute the wearisome Voice.”

“Do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

Romans 2:4

For a moment the Voice seemed to vanish. She could no longer feel the warmth of its Breath The woman stood in the cool, humid blackness.

Suddenly, she felt more alone than she had ever felt in her life. She shivered as the notion of emptiness filled her soul. “How do I find my way out of here? It is too dark to see the passageway.”

The woman crumpled to her knees on the stoney floor. Salty tears fell.

But the patient Voice had not left her.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me. The light around me will be night,” 

even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.

Psalm 139:11 & 12

“Suddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind…”

Acts 2:2

The Voice beaconed her to hear Him. She could not utter a sound. So, she listened. And then, the warmth of that rushing, mighty Wind stirred her quivering heart.

“Welcome, dear Voice. Tell me what you will. I will listen.”

Miraculously, she found the passageway to leave the darkness of the cavern. She emerged into a lovely sunlit day. She sat in the meadow and humbly prayed.

“Lord, be merciful to me. I am a sinner.”

Luke 18:13

The Holy Spirit shared His message of grace and forgiveness.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

John 3:16

Share the Good News in your world!

Isaiah 52:7

World English Bible (WEB)

by Public Domain. The name “World English Bible” is trademarked.