"I Hear the Mighty Thunder"!

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It begins with the rising wind… The leafy mango trees that surround the compound rustle increasingly. Occasionally, a distant rumble of thunder. The wind ebbs and flows, teasing about when the next stage will start. The odd burst of lightning illuminates the clouds - its distance hard to judge…

Then, after a few minutes, the wind goes up a gear, and branches begin crashing loudly into each other and into corrugated iron roofs; various oddments are tossed around the garden by the swirling wind. Rattle, bang, creak, bang…

All of a sudden it’s like a dam bursts over our heads and the rain begins lashing down. The sound against the roof is deafening. Waterfalls form immediately over every roof edge, carving trenches into the now muddy sand below. Within seconds, the sandy garden has turned into a mud bath - a series of pools and rivers. The chickens are glad they can perch on some shelves, and the dog is thankful for the veranda!

The lightning is now flashing frequently, lighting up the whole sky for extraordinary stunning split-seconds. Then, without any warning, the loudest thunder imaginable erupts with a mighty crack and explosion! I don’t think I imagined a sound could possibly be so loud. It was genuinely terrifying and made me leap out of my seat in shock! In a dramatic combination, the thunder cracked, the lightning flashed and the power went off instantaneously, leaving deep darkness.

The rain keeps pummelling down for a good hour or so. Until, quite suddenly, it just stops. The celestial tap is turned to off. It seems that the rain has pushed down the extreme heat and humidity into the ground. They will return soon enough, as the flash floods evaporate back into the air. But for now we enjoy the lovely relative cool of the fresh post-rain air, along with the many aromas that the water seems to draw out of all the plants and fruit trees.

—

It sparked a few thoughts...

It really was quite something! And, strange as it may sound, it honestly made me fear God more. If you read the Bible at all you’ll know that whilst the one who loves and trusts Jesus can call God “Father”, with delightful joy and confidence, yet we are still rightly to fear him. He is very, very mighty. He is perfectly pure and holy. He will judge the whole world. He will not be mocked. We are to live in obedient remembrance that he is Lord over all, even if we can’t see him, are pathetically forgetful, and would often go our own way.

“Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.” (Psalm 33:8) 

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” (Proverbs 1:8)

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.” (Proverbs 3:7)

“Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.” (Psalm 34:9)

It’s a consistent theme of Scripture. When we rightly fear the One who makes us, loves us and saves us, we are free to live before him and enjoy his ways, free from all other fears.

Now I know that thunder isn’t God. But he made it. He MADE it! And he controls it. So how much more powerful and awesome is HE than that which He made and controls?! And that thunder that I heard was probably the most strikingly powerful and awesome thing I’ve ever experienced.

“… what may be known about God is plain to [people], because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20)

Was this not a remarkable display of God’s eternal power? A dazzling and terrifying electrical weather system that he created. It warrants a word that I feel is terribly overused, but absolutely justified here - AWESOME!

It makes me think that a lot of the Bible writers must have heard similarly dramatic thunder. Hence their fondness of comparing God’s voice to thunder - astonishingly powerful and mighty. For example,

“God’s voice thunders in marvellous ways” (Job 37:4)

“The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.” (Psalm 18:13)

Do we realise that every time we read the Bible, or hear someone preaching it, it should be like we are hearing thunder? Oh that I would be more reverent and humble and obedient before God’s mighty word.

I will certainly now sing a favourite hymn with fresh appreciation when it comes to these words…

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works Thy hand hath made.

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed -

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,

How great Thou art! How great Thou art! 

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee,

How great Thou art! How great Thou art! 

(Stuart K. Hine, 1949)

And here’s a final rather exciting thought. Through faith in Jesus, we can look forward to perfect bliss with him in glory for ever after this life. And there we will enjoy such fullness of salvation and glory as we enjoy and worship Jesus for ever - see how the last book of the Bible describes what our victory song will be like!

“Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.’” (Revelation 19:6)