How Small a Whisper, How Thunderous His Power

“Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”
Job 26:14

I think this verse from the book of Job is absolutely beautiful. It stirs my soul to wonderment. Do we truly only see the outskirts of God’s ways? How is that possible when the world is such an intricate and immense place? A single cell is more complex than my mind can even comprehend. The processes of a cell continue steadily; the atoms that make up each cell never cease to move. Somehow, that little cell knows exactly what to do and when, and those infinitesimal electrons and protons always attract one another.

And yet, these are only the outskirts of God’s ways.

Migratory birds know precisely which path to follow on their long journeys to and from their breeding grounds. They don’t stop to second-guess themselves, but they trust their instincts, and they fly to the north or to the south. From where do their instincts come? Butterflies cover similar ground to birds. When the weather begins to cool in September, flocks of monarchs leave our Mexican sunflowers behind and congregate deep in the woods of Central America. They fly with neither compass nor GPS, and yet they reach their destination without pause. I admire both of these lovely creatures–I get lost all the time.

I love to watch the wind blow through a field of tall prairie grass. The grasses bend, but they do not break; they bow down low to the earth, but their roots stay grounded in the firmament. Sometimes storms come and whip up the grass into a frenzy. The grass doesn’t know which way to turn, so it turns in all directions as lightning breaks through the gray sky. We cannot see the wind, but we can see the beauty and devastation it causes. The wind is a powerful force, created and controlled by God, powerless against the goodness of its master. And yet, these are only the outskirts of God’s ways. He sends the winds and the earthquake, but chooses to speak in the whisper (1 Kings 19).

We cannot explain how God changes our hearts. One moment we want to sin, and the next moment we forsake our sin to follow Jesus. Only God can take a heart of stone and turn it into a heart of flesh. We see the outer workings of this mystery, but we cannot explain how it comes to be, just as we cannot explain how protons and electrons get their charges or how butterflies find their way across the ocean. The only explanation we have is that God created and sustains the world. He holds all creation in the palm of his hand and will never let go. We see the outskirts of his ways and we hear his thunder echo through all of creation, but his thoughts are so lofty we cannot attain them, his ways are higher than ours. Despite our humble estate, God keeps us anchored in the harbor of his love, no matter how the wind howls.

And these are but the outskirts of his ways!