“How faint the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?” Job 26:14 NIV
As a little girl, I remember waking in the night to the sound of distant thunder. I listened to the whisper of faraway rumbles that threatened more powerful roars to come, always hoping the thunder would decide to move further away—not closer—to our home.
To my little-girl ears, it seemed more often than not, the thunder would reach its crescendo directly over our house, accompanied by crashing lightning. That’s when I would grab my pillow and blanket and run for Momma and Daddy’s room, where I would spend the remainder of the night on the floor by their bed.
Whispers of thunder are promises of a powerful force that can be released at any moment.
In Job’s reply to the accusations of his poor-excuse-for-comforters, he tells his “friends” (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) that we see only the “fringe” of God’s mighty works. We hear only a “whisper” of His greatness. He says man cannot comprehend the “thunder” of God’s power (Job 26:14).
Job understood that the mighty works of God visible to humankind are only a “whisper” of God’s unlimited power and abilities—a small taste, the fringe, the outer edge, a glimpse, as it were (Job 26:7-14).
To whisper is to speak very quietly, using only the breath. The vocal cords are minimally engaged with little or no vibration. A whisper is a highly personal mode of communication intended for a small audience. It conveys a message but does not convey the full strength or capacity of the one speaking.
When Jesus walked this earth, He healed the sick and raised the dead, miracles that astounded the crowds and changed lives. Those who witnessed Jesus’s works were amazed by His authority and power.
Through His mighty works, Jesus gave His followers (and us) a glimpse of His omnipotence (all-powerfulness). But Jesus did not display the fullness or magnitude of His power as Almighty God.
Jesus gave the people a whisper of His true Self—only a glimpse, the fringe, a taste.
Think about the woman with the blood issue, described in Matthew 9:20 and Luke 8:44. She reached out, touched the fringe of Jesus’s garment, and was immediately healed. The power radiating from Jesus and the fringe of His robe is a whisper of the overwhelming, incomprehensible, and limitless power that is God.
Matthew and Mark both record in their Gospels that many others found healing and wholeness in a simple, faith-filled touch of the Master’s garment (Matthew 14:35-36, Mark 6:56).
Friend, in our human condition, we could not bear to witness the magnitude of God’s power without falling prostrate before Him as though dead. We would be overcome. If we were to see God in His fullness, we would instantly be aware of our sins, our unworthiness, and our limitations – we would be as John the Apostle, who wrote of himself, “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead.” (Revelation 1:17 ESV)
And so, as thunder whispers its powerful approach, God has given us whispers of His almighty power throughout the ages.
Read the account of Creation in Genesis chapters one and two, or Psalm chapter eight, written by David that includes this verse:
“When I look at Your heavens, the work of fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” Psalm 8:3-4 ESV
All the wonders that God has chosen to reveal to us are but whispers—mighty whispers, but whispers all the same—of the power of our Almighty God. His power will one day be revealed in a fullness far beyond our wildest dreams or imagination.
I find great encouragement and hope in knowing that God far surpasses the whispers of His thunder that echo in my heart today.
“How small a whisper do we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power who can understand?” Job 26:14 ESV
“And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.” 1 Kings 19:12 ESV