Like my wife Cheria, most people think I’m off my rocker when I tell them that I have always been fascinated by thunderstorms. Even as a young boy I would run to the nearest window every time I heard that first tell-tale rumbling of thunder emanating from somewhere in the distance. I just loved to watch the refreshing winds blow the leaves on the trees around ”backwards” as they turned the sweltering heat of a sultry mid-summer afternoon back into spring for the rest of the day.
And then, as if by magic, a magnificent lightning bolt would streak from the sky to the ground, lighting up the boisterous skies like never before. God was setting off yet another round of His spectacular fireworks, and as always it took this little boy’s breath away and gave me a new-found appreciation for the power of nature and the Creator who controls it at His whim.
Now that I’m approaching the half-century mark, I certainly realize the dangers that lurk within each passing thunderstorm, especially since Cheria and I lost almost $4,000 worth of “stuff” to a lightning strike just about a month ago. But even though it’s been decades since I stared out the window with a little boy’s eyes and imagination, I must say that I still love a good thunderstorm every now and then to remind me of just how awesome nature and its Creator really are.
These days we can literally send a man to the moon and converse in real time with someone on the other side of the planet, but we can neither prevent nor control a single bolt of lightning. And in my opinion that’s the way it should be. God is still the one who is ultimately in control of His most awesome creations, and that’s the way it shall remain until He sees fit to change it.
“The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.” — Psalm 77:18Â