on life and rain

i almost died tonight. it happened at approximately 11:45pm. my home in tennessee has been without rain for a month, and walking barefoot on my lawn lately has made me feel like i'm treading the grounds of C.S. Lewis' story The Great Divorce. but tonight the rain finally came - along with awesome thunder and lightning. so, of course, i went out to dance in the cascading sheets of blessed rain, and i was running through the backyard when a blinding flash of light struck right in front of me and stopped me dead in my tracks. it was so bright it made my head ache as i ran back under the porch, and a deafening thunder crack made my heart race. i wonder if martin luther felt something like that...

so i sat under the porch to watch the rest of the storm and was reminded of a piece i read last night on God's ways of giving both life and destruction in His creation. the author found ocean rocks in the deserts of southern darfur and reflected on how "the same God who judged Noah's world provided the rainbow." i think about how the life-giving rain storm for which i was thanking God could also prove to be a perilous force. i think about the monsoon rains which have killed at least 2,000 people and displaced 28 million in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. i was praying for rains to make our grass green again, while i can only imagine how many pleas have been said for rescue from that same force of nature. God is the creator of all things, and He does give and take away. i'm just trying to understand why I seem to be given so much and why that lightning bolt didn't strike any closer.

(Gospel for Asia is working hard to respond to the monsoon floods but also have some emergency needs themselves to provide for their missionaries, pastors and those they are ministering to. please read the story at http://www.gfa.org/gfa-flood-relief-2007)