I recognized the signs because while living in Tokyo, Japan, there were slight tremors all of the time; at least seven a day and in Guatemala, while on our honeymoon, we experienced an earthquake during a salsa lesson then two of the three volcanoes surrounding Antigua started smoking for hours. I recognized and I knew the sensations well.
The minute this quake in Costa Rica was over I remembered how just minutes before I was admiring the beauty of the coffee plantation. When I gazed out the scenery was picturesque and untouched in the aftermath. The earthquake was real, and yet after it all, with all intact, it seemed surreal. Even some locals using our spring-fed swimming pool continued to laugh and splash. They were oblivious.
Most of us are similar. We experience God, we see miracles or healing and are touched by His presence, but with the distraction of people around us, the busyness of our day, and the draw of our technology, these etheral moments are relegated to the back of our minds and get lost due to the next event marching by that captures our attention.
Jerry and I were having earthquake moments in the spirit during this 2014 vision quest concerning our part in ministry in this country. We knew God urged us to come back, but we weren't quite clear on what God had in mind for us.
Up until now, we have had many divine appointments in meeting individuals and seeing them ask God to become a real part of their lives. We have made good friends with ex-pats and Ticos alike that we know were purposeful. Who can put a value on just one life? But since our trips at first did not bring changes in the lives of many, and we knew that God did really speak to each of us and drew us here; we continued to seek Him to listen for the Holy Spirit. We needed Him to give us direction. But there was no great revelation.
After Elijah cried out to God that the Israelites had forsaken God and his covenants, torn down holy altars, and had killed prophets with the sword, he lamented that he was the last one left and that he too would be hunted down and killed. He needed a word from God, too.
In 1 Kings 19:11-12, “The LORD said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” 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 the gentle whisper.
Elijah was then given some instructions about anointing and appointing certain men to rule and to prophecy. Then God softly let him know in verse 18 that there were still 7,000 in Israel who had not bowed down to worship Baal. He was not alone.
What we understand now as we look back is that God was not asking us to wait for detailed instructions: a master plan. He was not going to ask us to start a work or church. He was not going to come in a vision or dream and guide us that way. He did arouse a desire to serve Him in this country, but now all He asked is for us to walk this out. This would not be man’s design or working, but God opened up doors as we continued to walk forward and trust.
From 2013 to 2016 we sacrificed and blindly obeyed. His gentle intervention has taken us to a place where now at several times a year we speak to hundreds through ladies’ conferences and evangelistic meetings. Whereat first we struggled and used up all of our savings to fund our trips we now see God providing us with everything we need for good works. We simply trust Him. He provides through joyful givers. We are overtaken by the goodness of God!
Some of our most cherished times are not the tremors of these large moments…but there are sweet times spent anointing and speaking health over a man or woman with cancer in the privacy of their home. Spending time sharing God’s word and encouraging them in their plight.
Walking down the road after church we visited a sweet sister suffering from diabetes and heard of her impending amputation due to the ulcer on her leg. We were in agreement with the pastors and spoke healing and blessing over her in the name of Jesus. Later we heard that she walked into services the next week to give a glowing testimony of how the doctor unwrapped her leg to find the ulcer gone! She was aglow as she told of God’s goodness.
Hugging and encouraging a pastor’s wife who struggled with postpartum depression as she cried about how hard it was going to be to leave her newborn in order to commute over three hours a day to her teaching job during 2021. But less than a month later, I was thrilled to read joyous words she penned on Facebook of her love for her students with a strength oozing throughout that let me know she had found solace in God and a victory over her fears.
Those first moments when God spoke to us about Costa Rica still seem rather surreal just as those passing quakes I’d experienced, but they were real. Even as life moves on and the scenery changes I stop and am grateful for the journey. I have experienced the fire, the wind, the earthquake, but I cherish especially that soft whisper and the warmth of God’s sublime peace that enfolds me as I continue to walk on, waiting to see what He has for me just around the corner.
My advice for holding onto those precious tremors, those private words that God speaks softly over you is to pay attention. Write them down. Meditate on them and rest in His presence often.
Psalm 37:4-7a says it well. (NIV)
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
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