not in the wind.

Several weeks ago, Morgan Harper Nichols posted a beautiful reel collection that featured her drawings and words with their definitions. She encouraged us to screenshot the reel to see what our “word” would be for 2022. The last few years, I have refused to have a word of the year. For some reason, I couldn’t resist this “just for fun” word from Morgan. So I dutifully clicked on the reel and screenshot my word, only for it to be the word “wind.” I rolled my eyes a bit, and moved on, wondering what kind of a word that was to even include in this video.

As silly as it seemed that day, I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about it. I kept tossing around in my mind what on earth “wind” meant, and why I was even still devoting brain space to this. Here’s the definition Morgan included from the Oxford dictionary: “The perceptible natural movement of the air, especially in the form of a current of air blowing from a particular direction.” Then I looked up properties of wind - direction and magnitude. Basically, where is the wind blowing and how hard is it blowing in that same direction. I looked up scriptures that included the word “wind” and they didn’t seem very applicable - all except for one.

The prophet Elijah is one of my favorite people in the Bible. He performed incredible miracles through God’s power, stood up to kings, called down fire from heaven and was generally very cool. If you want to read about all he did during his time as God’s prophet, you can check out the book of first 1 Kings. The other reason that I really like Elijah is that despite all the great and amazing things he did for God’s glory, he still struggled to believe that he was capable. I have always read his story and wondered if he struggled with depression. No matter what it was, I relate to his flawed humanity deeply.

In the beginning of 1 Kings 19, Elijah has just managed to take out all the prophets of Baal, proven God is who He says He is, and outrun Ahab’s chariot in the midst of a storm. Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, threatened Elijah with death after she learned that he had killed all the prophets of Baal, and he fled to the desert. After he collapsed under a bush to rest, he told God (as someone who has “told God” a few things - this guy was definitely yelling at God) to take his life. After this declaration, he fell asleep under the bush. He was awakened by an angel, who brought him food and drink, and told him to eat and make his way to Mount Horeb, because God was going to pass by him. Elijah traveled for 40 days and nights (sound like anyone else who was in the desert for 40 days?) to the mountain where God promised to speak to him.

The first thing that God said to him is this: “Why are you here?” Great and spiritual woman of God that I am, I just know that I would be pretty furious at this question. Why am I here? Because you told me to travel across the desert so you could speak to me. Elijah proceeded to tell God how faithfully he has served Him, and that he is the only one left in all of the nation of Israel serving God, under threat of death. The Lord did not respond to this dissertation of Elijah’s great sacrifice, but told him to come stand outside of the cave, because He was going to pass by him.

The Bible says this: “Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the 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 came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.” After Elijah stood at the mouth of the cave, God asked again - Elijah, what are you doing here? Elijah responded in the same way, although I imagine with probably a little less attitude. He was, after all, a broken and fearful man. So God, who is mighty enough to send gale force winds and shake the plates of the Earth that He spoke into the void, was found in a whisper to His child. He instructed Elijah to go back to where he came from - there he would meet his legacy - the young man Elisha. God also told Elijah that even though he felt alone, God had preserved a remnant of 7,000 Israelites, who were dedicated to Him.

Maybe you’re wondering how all this ties back to my word of the year. I could probably make a lot of correlations back to how the wind represents God - you can’t see the wind, you can’t see God. The Holy Spirit moves, and we can only see the effects of Him. God picks a direction and moves with magnitude, leading His church. Take your pick. I’ve been in church a long time, I can get creative. But so often, I get so very busy telling God all that I’ve done for Him, and I feel like I’m doing it alone. Sometimes I feel that just my tribe is doing this Christian thing well, and everyone else is failing. At times it’s hard to believe in this Church, so full of scandal. God could always send mighty winds, earthquakes or fires, but I find Him in the whisper. In the breath, in the wind we all hold in our bodies. The best thing is that even His whisper is mighty.

As we start this year, so many of us are struggling to believe in Church. We take so many stances and sometimes, have rightfully separated ourselves from congregations we don’t believe uphold Christ and His values. We often feel that we are doing this thing alone, and furthermore, we are doing it best. Maybe you don’t feel that you are doing it best, or that you are doing anything worth mentioning for God’s Kingdom. I don’t know which part of your life identifies with Elijah, but I do know that God’s whisper is mighty. May we never rely on signs, wonders and miracles as the only evidence of His presence. May we come to know Him so deeply that we hear the whispers of His voice, reminding us that in this broken, messy, hurting group of people called the Church, He has maintained a remnant of people who love and honor Him. Our God is not powerless. The gospel is not under threat. There is nothing and no one that can take, even for an instant, an ounce of power away from God.

Let God call you across the desert, if He must, to get you quiet enough to hear His whisper. Rest in the knowledge that this Kingdom is not reliant on you to survive.

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Nicole Worm is the founder of Redeemed Collective, a recovering perfectionist and is committed to eventually seeing the Atlanta Falcons win a Super Bowl. Also, committed to being dog mom to Bear.