What are you doing here?

Again, the wind howls relentlessly round the house, weaselling its way in the cracks with whines and whistles, causing unpruned bushes to scrape and scratch at the windows. It feels as if the wind has been our constant companion for weeks. Not a fan of it.

Covid-19 is similar. Only more threatening. More fear-inducing. Ignorance is not bliss. We don’t know much about Covid-19; if we did, we could choose our weapons more carefully and target the fight more precisely. Instead we are all hunkered down in our houses, googling how to make hand sanitiser and anti-bac spray and wondering when it will end.

Such global upheaval raises the question: what is God saying to us? Elijah longed to see and hear from God, so God took him out onto a mountain. A great and strong wind rent the mountains, crumbling some of the rocks. It wasn’t God. Then there was an earthquake, but God was not in that either. Next there was a fire, but no God there either.

Finally, there was a still small voice. Elijah recognised who was speaking. It was the Lord. And what was he saying? ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’

I wonder if God is whispering to me today. What are you doing here, Michele?

Well, I could laugh as I defend myself, Boris has put me in lockdown. Can’t go out.

True. But I can be more effective in lockdown than I can running around the place. I can worship. I can pray. And I can obey and do whatever he says. Feed the hungry. Pray for the persecuted. Phone the lonely.

Perhaps he’s asking Church the same thing. What are you doing here, Church? Are you shining a light in the darkness? Holding out hope as you share Jesus?

What are you doing here? Where would Jesus be?

A Bird in the Bush, or Tree

I seem to have hit a theme here of birds!

I was out earlier than usual with Dusty this morning, and realised that although the birds were raising a feathered chorus to greet the glorious, sunny morning, I couldn’t actually see any of them. I paused and stared at the trees in the woods and saw very few birds. 

It reminded me of a walk I had a few years ago with a birdwatcher, who kept pointing excitedly to various birds in trees which I hadn’t seen at all and would have missed if he hadn’t pointed them out. He had trained his eye to pick up the distinctive markings and the signs of movements from a huge number of birds. 

This drew my thoughts to hearing God. We all have trouble hearing God, unless we have trained our inner ear for his still, small voice, and trained our eyes to glimpse him in the everyday. That’s what he wants us to do. He says in the Bible that those who seek his face will find him. He invites us to spend time with him, sharing his thoughts. That is amazing.

How do we train ourselves to recognise the face or voice of God in our everyday activities then? It starts with the Bible, I think, so that we grow closer to what he reveals about himself there. We are aware of the attributes of his character – his kindness, his compassion, his purity and holiness and so on – and then we become more aware of the urges we feel within us towards developing and appreciating these attributes. Then as we think about him during the day, he sometimes suddenly draws back the curtain and we see him in all his glory, or we feel him almost imperceptibly. 

We begin to recognise prompts to do or say things – good things! – as being prompts from the Lord. And then it’s up to us to obey. And as we obey, we draw nearer to God and feel his presence more closely, and hear him better each day.

Maybe one day I will be able to see the birds in the trees. But more importantly, today I want to hear God more clearly during my daily routine, which today is looking rather frenetic. 

‘Be still and know that I am God.’