Click here to read the daily readings from the USCCB website.
“A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks before the LORD—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.”
I feel like we as the human race have a tendency to over-spiritualize things. We especially look at things like natural disasters and COVID-19 and say, “God must be trying to teach us something.” We look at tragedies and ask “Why did God do that? What is that supposed to accomplish?”
What I see in this reading, though, is that God is not directly behind everything. “The Lord was not in the wind… The Lord was not in the earthquake… the Lord was not in the fire.” When Elijah heard the tiny whispering sound, he knew that this finally was the Lord.
Please don’t be scandalized. Of course I know that God is all powerful and He is ultimately the beginning and end of all things; however, all things are either caused or allowed by God. God has the supernatural power to stop tragedy, but He created the natural world and part of His respect of our free will is that He allows the natural world to go its course. Unfortunately, the world is tainted by sin and it’s effects. That means natural tragedies, pandemics, racism, police brutality, and all sorts of other tragedies can happen. It doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care. In fact it breaks His heart… that’s why He sent His Son. Jesus’s sacrifice may have happened within our timeline (i.e. 2000 years ago), but its effects are outside of time, radiating redemption across time and space. God does not cause these terrible things, but He can use them to bring about good.
How do we find God’s goodness in the midst of tragedy? Listen for the tiny whispering sound… If we’re only paying attention to the wails of tragedy, we won’t be disposed to find God in the middle of it. We need to learn to look beyond what we see and what we expect. We need to learn how to quite our hearts and minds to give God the opportunity to manifest Himself to us. I’m sure He’s reaching out in a tiny whispering sound all of the time, but can we hear it when it’s drowned out by all the other noise?
-Amanda Benner, Director of Evangelization