Every so often I am reminded of God’s awe-inspiring power. Last night was one of those times. The sky turned quickly dark and sirens started wailing- you know, the kind that tell you TORNADO seek shelter! Well, living in an apartment building with no basement I decided there was no place better for me to sit than on my patio watching this insane storm. Brilliant, I know. But it was so worth it. The wind picked up, the rain pummeled the ground, and the thunder and lightening were terrifying in the most thrilling way. I wish I could even capture a morsel of the wonder in this storm. It was majestic. It was supernatural. I don’t know if I have seen God at work so powerfully and so clearly any other time in the past year. And then it ended. I headed back inside and turned on the tv and learned tornados had struck a nearby town where friends of mine live and the beauty and power I had just witnessed took on a new, less beautiful face. I think we too quickly give God the role of powerful teddy bear or the like. We try to say that God is truly magnificent and powerful but she doesn’t cause harm or destruction anymore. But please tell me, who but God has the power to create such a beautiful, powerful storm? When will we let God out of the box we have put him in? One of my favorite verses in the Bible comes from Habakuk and shortly after it comes this amazing telling of God’s power.
God came from Teman,
the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens
and his praise filled the earth.
His splendor was like the sunrise;
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power was hidden.
Plague went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled
and the age-old hills collapsed.
His ways are eternal.
I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
the dwellings of Midian in anguish.
Were you angry with the rivers, O LORD ?
Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea
When you rode with your horses
and your victorious chariots?
You uncovered your bow,
you called for many arrows.
You split the earth with rivers;
the mountains saw you and writhed.
Torrents of water swept by;
the deep roared
and lifted its waves on high.
Sun and moon stood still in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows,
at the lightning of your flashing spear.
In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshed the nations.
You came out to deliver your people,
to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot.
-Habakuk 3:3-13
