How Many Whirlwinds Does It Take to Change a Person?

One phone call.

That’s all it took to make time stand still.

And sitting here this morning,

I feel as if the clock stopped for our family for almost a week.

Tim and I look at each other now and wonder what happened.

We never dreamed last Wednesday would be

the last day his mom would be alive.

Coming back to Kentucky was hard.

Leaving his dad wasn’t easy.

And this morning as I sit here

staring at my screen,

I am fully aware of the emptiness of words

at so many different points in life.

Twenty-six letters doesn’t seem to be enough

to fill up the empty space in my husband’s heart

or on the blank page in front of me.

So I’m struggling.

So much has happened in the last six days.

In our family’s life.

And in the pages of the Bible.

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Job’s friends have continued with their blabbing.

Several times, Job has attempted to reply,

trying to make sense of all that’s happened.

And God has finally reached His limit.

As if He’s been watching from the front row

and can take it no more,

He takes the stage.

Pushes all the actors aside and begins to speak.

Not in the form of a person.

But in the shape of a whirlwind.

The very word we’ve used to describe the last six days in our own lives.

God, who up to this point had seemed absent,

finally makes Himself known.

And proves He has been there all along.

Watching.

Listening.

His voice begins to thunder

and in perfect God-style,

His answers aren’t explanations.

Suffering doesn’t suddenly make sense

as His voice breaks the silence,

mixed with the sound of violently-spinning air.

No.

God makes it very clear that this life will forever be filled with questions.

And these questions will forever point back to Him.

Whirlwinds have a way of grabbing our attention,

and God definitely got Job’s.

Just like the past week got ours.

As the dust settled,

Job was able to see again,

but his perspective had forever been changed.

The world had shifted from the force of the wind

and Job’s view of life had shifted too.

“I had heard reports about you,

but now my eyes have seen you.”

Whirlwinds change us.

Personal encounters with God change us too.

That’s how it felt to stand and hug person after person

who loved my mother-in-law.