Our first calf was born on March 20, the first day of spring. Of course, it didn't feel like spring at all...blustery and cold was a better description of the day! But the little guy fared just fine. The next afternoon, slightly less blustery but almost equally as cold, I walked to the pasture to check on the cows and unplug the water tank for the night so the hose didn't freeze. I stood amongst the cows, just watching them in their contented state. Suddenly I noticed bits of dried grass stems and leaves whipping up in the air as a little whirlwind kicked up. It danced along through the pasture, and I marveled as it literally traveled right next to me! I have never experienced anything quite like that before, and its close proximity (if I had stretched forth my hand, it would have been within the whirlwind) felt rather surreal somehow. Like the whirlwind had a persona, that it was something more than spinning air, and there was some kind of connection (a "thin place") between heaven and earth. I kept watching as it passed by and continued along the ground, the dried grass continually whirling along within the gentle and quiet vortex.
There is a verse in the Bible that came to me while I observed and then contemplated what I had seen. "The way of the Lord is in the whirlwind." I couldn't remember where it was until I looked it up. Nahum 1:3. When I looked up whirlwind in the concordance, several references seemed to be associated with judgment from the Lord with those who rebel against Him. Another reference really intrigued me...in 2 Kings 2, Elijah was carried up to heaven in a whirlwind!
This winter I had an amazing opportunity to learn the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. And I learned that every letter has meaning in itself. So when you look at scriptures in the Hebrew language, there is a literal translation, but from that the Holy Spirit may reveal layer after layer of revelation through the letters themselves! Well, I wanted to look up the Hebrew word for whirlwind. What I discovered blew me away a little. No pun intended. Well maybe a little intended!
The Hebrew word for whirlwind is spelled samek, ayin, resh (סָ֫עַר...Hebrew reads right to left) Some key meanings of these letters are as follows:
Samek : God's protection, support; abundance, memory, shelter, joy, mysteries of God
Ayin: Spiritual insight, discernment; sight, spirituality, inner reflection, consciousness; represents our ability to see Jesus the Light of the world
Resh: Holy Spirit, power of God, repentance; willingness, bend in a path, turning point.
The first thing that amazed me about this word is that most of the times when we think of whirlwinds, they are tornadoes or hurricanes. Violent, destructive forces. The whirlwinds mentioned in many places in the Bible are such forces. Yet none of the letters themselves speak to this. And in fact, the first letter--the first thing you see about this word--is declaring God's protection. How can this be?? These fierce storms seemingly leave paths of destruction. But maybe it's about being in the eye of the storm. I just now noticed as I'm writing this that ayin, representing sight (eyes), is in the middle of the word...the center of the storm! And the layers continue!
The other thing that struck me as I wrote out the letters' meanings is that the Trinity is in the whirlwind. God our Protector, Jesus Light of the World, and the Holy Spirit.
Storms have come and will come again. Hurricanes and tornadoes and storms of life. They're somewhat unpredictable. Almost entirely uncontrollable. I do have a choice in how I respond to them, though. I can choose not to be afraid of the storm. Maybe I even need to lean into the storm. It's what the eagles do, I'm told, and in so doing they soar to heights perhaps not possible without the storm's power. When the storm surrounds you, remember just Who is encircling you, and that you are the apple of His eye.
The way of the Lord is in the
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