In the Storm I Hear His Voice

Last night our small group was meeting at the church at the same time as the Worship Team was having practice. It's our normal Wednesday night ritual. We always make lots of food and the Worship Team comes in and joins us when they're done. There's great fellowship and no one ever leaves hungry.

Last night, while in the middle of our weekly routine, severe weather hit. The tornado sirens were going off and rain was literally pounding the pavement. It came so quickly, a man passing by on a bicycle had to come in to keep from being blown over by the wind. He got to join in on some great food and fellowship, so what started out to be a bad situation turned out pretty good for him!

Storms scare some people, but for some reason they just don't scare me at all. In fact, they inspire me. It's not that I'm unaware of the destruction they can cause, and I don't wish that on anyone. And I always, always want my family to be together when the storms hit. But the storms themselves, they inspire me. When I look at a sky that 15 minutes earlier was clear as can be, then suddenly it's full of dark, ominous clouds and spiking rain and hail down so hard it's bouncing off the pavement, and when I see the wind so strong it's blowing semi's off the interstate and clouds start to swirl into what could be tornadoes that can literally lift houses off their foundations... somehow it reminds me that all the stuff I've spent so much time stressing over throughout the week isn't all that important in the whole big scheme of things.

Sometimes I need a good storm. Sometimes I just need to put things in perspective. It may not be today. It may not be this week. But SOMEDAY the world as we know it isn't going to exist anymore. And when that happens there are things that will continue to matter, and things that just won't.

A good storm helps me think about the difference.