I scurried through the pouring rain, scuffing large puddles of water and thus drenching my shoes and socks. I at least brought my rain jacket, but didn't think to zip it up. You guessed it, there was a big wet spot on the top of my shirt. As if I didn't already feel less-than-pretty, I came into the Cathedral feeling and looking like a wet rat.
Despite this unpleasant experience, I enjoy the thunder and rain. If I were still in my pajamas at home, sipping a cup of coffee/tea/cider by candlelight, then I would be in heaven. There's a certain feeling I get whenever I watch or listen to a thunderstorm. There's this unsettling anxiety about the thunder and lightning, but peace with the rain. Often, though, the thunder and the rain happen simultaneously. How is it that I have peace AND fear inside of me at the same time?
I think this ties in very well with life. Thunderstorms are inevitable, and you can't ignore them. They demand attention. With lightning strikes filling up the sky with light and majesty, the thunder that accompanies it roars with authority. There are many instances of thunder & lightning in my life: not knowing what's going to happen after I graduate next December, not knowing how to balance my school life and social life completely, not knowing if I'll be able to make enough money to provide for myself, making my friends and boyfriend angry or offended, not gaining the approval of my professors, not knowing whether I have a food allergy or what, and not knowing whether I'll live or die another day (and yes, that is a fear of mine). Those are only a FEW. These are all things that make me feel unsettled to say the least.
There are others out there that have bigger thunder & lightning things to deal with: a man without a job, a woman that is not able to have biological children, a grandmother that has alzheimer's, a young lady dealing with depression and despair, a man struggling to find his sexual identity. These are only a few instances; there are many others that demand your complete attention and strike so much fear into your heart and mind.
These are events and sometimes seasons of life that you feel like you can't bear on your own. You need help, you need rest.
I can also see thunder & lightning as a parallel to one half of God's character. His holiness and awesomeness demands attention; it does (or should make you) unsettled and somewhat fearful. Sometimes, He is unpredictable and surprises you with things. He is transcendent, ruler over all creation.
But there is another half, another side of God: one that brings a gentle rain to water the earth. He cares for His children and helps carry them through the bumps and pits of life. He brings about the ultimate good. He is immanent with and actively involved in His creation.
We will also have seasons or events of life that are pleasant, easy-going like the rain. We find love in another friend, an incredible need is met, an answer to prayer is given, and contentment with where you are.
We need the seasons of rain, but we also need the seasons of thunder & lightning alongside of the rain. A lot of the time, you can jump into something and not know what's going to happen. Despite the fear that accompanies that, you can have peace knowing that everything will turn out okay in the end. We need the thunder & lightning seasons so we can be challenged and grow more than we ever could have without it. Of course we need the seasons of gentle rain to rest from those challenges and grow in our walk with the Lord in that way.
"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven - ...
A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance ... He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end." - Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3-4, 11.
We don't always have to know why things happen. God just requires that we trust Him.
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