A glorious thunderstorm is playing out now in the day’s gloaming. Mother Nature opened the flood gates, the clouds rolled in dark and purple, the wind bent the trees, and the life giving rain fell from heaven. I love a spring thunderstorm when the windows are open, all the thunder booms and rain symphonies can be heard in the house. I have four of the nine windows in the lady den open so I got cold when the damp wind blew through the windows. Penelope and I retreated to my desk in my bedroom. We had rain last night, too, and my vegetables were taller and greener when I checked on them this morning. I call rain nature’s fertilizer, her nitrogen greening up the world so prettily.

“If you ever want your soul to dance in the clouds, you will at some point have to juggle lightning and taste the thunder,” Christopher Poindexter. What a great quote for this evening. Bible scripture describes thunderstorms as a declaration of God’s power. We read of thunder, lightning, and storms as God’s words. Job 37:2-5 states, “Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back. God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.” I love the words, “He thunders with his majestic voice.” I think we can all imagine God’s voice thundering from heaven. I can also hear his voice in the soft breezes of spring.

Thunderstorms are also used as metaphors for God’s presence and judgement, hunder and lightning signifying God’s voice and his wrath. God’s power and majesty give him control over the earth’s natural world from wind and rain to the mighty waves of the ocean, to the bright beams of the sun. Sometimes storms enter our lives to test our faith. God knows our hearts but we learn as we weather the storms how to trust in God. We learn to depend on our faith and prayers to see us through the trials of life. 1 Peter 1:7 reads, “These troubles test your faith and prove that it is pure. And such faith is worth more than gold. Gold can be proved to be pure by fire, but gold will ruin. When your faith is proven to be pure, the result will be praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ comes.”

When we hear thunder we’re in the presence of God. Our sins and momentary lapses of faith can bring on the wrath of a thunderstorm, a time of God testing our faith. His power and majesty can be heard in the loud thunder from heaven. Some storms clear the way for our journey of faith, other storms are lessons to be learned. God cleanses us physically and spiritually with nature’s thunderstorms. Life’s rain purifies our faith, helps us grow spiritually. The storms pass and we’re safe in our Lord’s arms, stronger for being tested.

“Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path” — Paulo Coelho