Exploding Storm Clouds

I took this picture out my back door on June 10th, being the peak of the stormy season this year, while the storms that blew through threatened us frequently with hailstorms, thunder and lightning storms, and and even tornadoes among the many windstorms. Among all of these threats, spring decided to jump into full swing, making everything that grows around here more green, lush, and colorful than ever I remember it being and lasting longer than I ever remember it doing so before.

 

Amid the many rain and hail showers along with a tornado watch on this particular day, if I remember right, I caught this amazing storm cloud display. The sun rays were just shooting through it in an explosive fashion though the sun was clear across the other side of the sky. Since I had to piece together four pictures to get this one--because I don't have a wide angle lens at this time--some of this storm cloud's spectacular illumination and definition of the sun rays have faded. However the overall effect of the picture, I think, was captured.

 

When I played around with it in one of my graphics programs, I even found that when I changed the color of it to red, it actually looked like a huge bomb exploding. It is in these moments of nature's massive displays of power, that I am reminded of God's all-surpassing power, a power that far exceeds even any of these kinds of storms on earth or in this solar system, let alone in the entire universe.

 

As this realization sweeps over me, it evokes a kind of awe and wonder at who and what He must really be... Within my heart, while in this state, I ask His many critics this: Is it then too wonderful to imagine that in His might, He could stoop down and bless us with a portion of Himself in Jesus His Only Begotten Son through a virgin in all holiness so that we could live with Him in Eternity because His love for us is more explosively powerful than any power display in nature? No, it is not too wonderful to imagine...

 

Some imagined atheists may claim that this way of looking at God is too simplistic, that the universe displaying its power speaks of itself, not God, that it is eternal. My reply to that is nothing in the universe is eternal and in fact ALWAYS decays; therefore, it cannot be eternal. It instead is decaying. Truth be told, linear time and a decaying creation can only exist if there is such a thing as eternity. It all had to start somewhere with linear time and creation but not so in eternity where there is no beginning or end thus no decay since decay has an end.

 

Atheists are free to "believe" in the universe if they please, but it makes them, then, not atheists but rather universe worshipers. And I would much rather "believe" in One who showed His massive power by sending His Only Begotten Son because He loves me personally so that I too can live with Him in eternity than "believe" in an impersonal universe that displays its power for obviously narcissistic purposes alone.

 

As a result, though these kinds of power displays in nature can sadly bring heartache and trouble to many, I sometimes find myself actually gaining faith in more of the Only Eternal One's abilities when I look at them from a distance, catching a rare glimpse at the whole picture in the midst of these exploding storm clouds.

 

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Here are some passages that spoke to me about what I was looking at in this picture and about what I was feeling regarding it all:

 

 

I love you, O LORD, my strength.

 

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.

He is my shield and the horn [a] of my salvation, my stronghold.

 

I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,

and I am saved from my enemies.

 

The cords of death entangled me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

 

The cords of the grave [b] coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

 

In my distress I called to the LORD;

I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came before him, into his ears.

 

The earth trembled and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains shook;

they trembled because he was angry.

 

Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

 

He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

 

He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

 

He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

 

Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

 

The LORD thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded.

 

He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies ,

great bolts of lightning and routed them.

 

The valleys of the sea were exposed

and the foundations of the earth laid bare

at your rebuke, O LORD,

at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

 

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

 

He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

 

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the LORD was my support.

 

He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me. (Psalm 18:1-19, NIV)

 

Here is another passage that others have wonderfully recently connected to the Star of Bethlehem regarding Jesus' birth. But as C.S. Lewis said, there are many different levels of understanding and applying Scripture because it is divine. To say that any passage only has one meaning is immature and puts the person doing the dictating of the meaning in a place of too much power and thus is not to be trusted. However, there is such a thing as "error" such as salvation through works instead of through grace, not in keeping with the whole picture of Scripture. Keeping that in mind, here is the passage I believe relates well to what I was saying though obviously is just another level of understanding Scripture:

 

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

 

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge.

 

There is no speech or language

where their voice is not heard.

 

Their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

 

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

 

It rises at one end of the heavens

and makes its circuit to the other;

nothing is hidden from its heat. (Psalm 19:1-6, NIV)

Done