Catching a Feather in a Whisper

I haven’t tried too often to catch a feather as it was falling. But for the few times I have, it’s tough. You would think it would be simple. A soft, floating, slow moving object – no problem, right?

But as I throw my hand at it to snatch it out of the air, it quickly wisps away. I quickly grasp for it again ferociously. But again, the current caused by the movement of my hand only stirs it back into the air wildly as the generated winds blow it freely into space. But then I finally relax. I lay my hand beneath it, not grabbing for it. It slowly floats into the palm of my hand, landing softly and rests. I feel the texture and the softness of this feather, meant to fly and move with the currents of the wind, yet now it settles. It moved freely and I simply had to wait for it to come to me.

I have grabbed at God so ferociously at times. It’s almost as though I can see him and I think I know what it is that He going to do, but when I go there to find Him, He’s gone. My aggression, movements, and choices of actions are not going to be what finally connects me with Him. But I hate waiting. It’s so difficult for me to just sit there and wait, with my palm open. My arm gets tired. I fear the current will change. But sure enough, when I quite grabbing, he softly lands.

In the book of 1 Kings in the Old Testament, a story is told of Elijah who experienced a windstorm, rain, and fire, and yet found God in none of them. It was not until he was silent that he heard God in a whisper. For the One who is so powerful, so controlling, and so large, it is amazing to me that so many find him light, gentle, and soft-spoken.

Skillet puts it this way –He’s both a silent rage and a hurricane. He is everything we cannot see and can’t explain. Why grasp ferociously at something you will never understand anyways? We really have no choice but to wait until it finally lands on us.