Thursday, May 30, 2013

Watching the Lightning

"He covers His hands with the lightning and commands it to strike the mark. Its crashing declares His presence..." (Job 36:32-33a)

And I watched it from my window.... Lightning from His hands struck mark after mark in my view and the thunder growled through the crack beneath the glass. I must have looked like a child on Christmas morning, as I grinned delighted and whispered, "I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed..."

Oh, it was beautiful! But only because I have seen the face of the One who casts lightning upon the earth, and He is good. Not good like a superhero who rides in on a storm and rescues the damsel in distress, but like the calm shepherd who walks among His flock, righting the sheep who have toppled over. If He was not constantly roaming up and down and through the field, how would they survive? On their backs, they - we - would die of asphyxiation.

How few know that it takes One with power over lightning and His hand on the volume of the thunder to set us back on our feet. The Shepherd is not weak, or simple. He is good. And for goodness to be acted upon, immense power is required.

Our heroes today are always one or the other. Good, but not powerful enough to turn wrong right again. Or with great power, but an ego that makes power useless except for destruction. Yet we need not look past the sky for both together. The good Shepherd. The commander of the lightning. They are one and the same hero.

I feel like those sheep toppled over. I've been knocked flat on my back. Life will do that to you. And then it leaves you there, with time to ponder, contemplate, playback, regret? No. While I'm lying here, I want to choose to watch the lightning, giddy happy. I know the great and good Shepherd will be by shortly to pick me back up.

1 comment:

  1. I didn't know sheep can die if they flip over. Good analogy.

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