It was forecast – but then the forecast is so frequently
wrong. We went to bed last night and left the telephones and computer plugged
in.
Four a.m. and I found myself aware of rolling thunder
rumbling in the distance. It didn’t stay in the distance for long, though, and
Don and I soon pinged out of bed and were scampering round the house pulling
plugs. We’ve been burned too many times – or rather, our motherboard has, and
our telephones. The situation could have soon deteriorated into farce of the
Fawlty Towers variety, as we have some B&B guests in at the moment who
might have been surprised to encounter either of us at that time of morning.
You have to laugh.
Natural phenomena are a good reality check when we start to
take ourselves and our anxieties too seriously. They remind us of our own
smallness, our own insignificance and our own powerlessness. We may try to
minimise our vulnerability to nature’s wrath but in the end there is really no
escape. It’s still raining this morning, but I can see a break in the clouds.
God uses all sorts of things to bring us back to himself, to
break into our circularly selfish thought patterns and remind us of who he is,
and who we are. In a book in the Old
Testament, Hosea, God promises that he will ‘lead Israel into the desert and
speak tenderly to her there’. (Hosea 2:14)
I’ve been led into that desert in the past. My life choices
weren’t great, and eventually I found myself in a desert, where homesickness
and loneliness were overwhelming. But in that desert, I finally heard God’s
tender voice speaking to me.
He may speak in a clap of thunder, or he may speak words
into a quiet heart, but the truth is that God does speak, and his words are
loving and tender, calling us home to him.
It’s amazing.
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