In the Small Things

There are a great many things going on in the world right now.

The leader of one nation is developing both nuclear weapons and ways to deliver them.

Leaders of other nations challenge with harsh rhetoric of their own.

Still other nations claim sanctions must and will be invoked.

That’s not all.

There have been multiple hurricanes in existence at the same time.

These have resulted in the loss of life, injury and the destruction of property.

Flooding has occurred in different hemispheres.

Meanwhile other areas suffered a combination of drought and wildfire.

Still another area experienced a very strong earthquake.

Many people are claiming that this is God’s way of trying to get our attention.

Others are stating that this is God’s way of inflicting punishment.

These claims might even come from people in prominent places.

We really must be careful when we try to use disasters, manmade or otherwise, to interpret God’s intent.

In the ninth chapter of John, the disciples encountered a blind man.

They asked Jesus whose sin caused the man to be blind - his own or his parents?

The reply Jesus gave must have come as quite a surprise to them.

John 9:3 (NET) - Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that the acts of God may be revealed through what happens to him.

Jesus then cured the man of his blindness.

Jesus even spoke to his disciples about things such as earthquakes and wars.

Mark 13:7-8 (NET) - When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. These things must happen, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines. These are but the beginning of birth pains.

Then there was the time Elijah hid in a cave.

The LORD asked Elijah to exit the cave and stand on the mountain.

Elijah was subjected to the spectacular.

First there was a powerful wind and landslides.

Next there was an earthquake.

After that came a raging fire,

Elijah determined that the LORD was not in any of these.

1 Kings 19:12 (NET) - After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a soft whisper.

The LORD revealed himself to Elijah in a whisper.

As human beings, it is easy for us to assume that God only reveals himself in big ways like hurricanes, floods, fires and earthquakes.

God often surprises us.

God quite often reveals himself in the most unexpected ways.

He came to Elijah in a whisper.

He came to us as a child in a manger.

By focusing on only the very large, we could very easily overlook Him in the small.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, September 22, 2017.

I’ll be back here on Friday, October 6, 2017