Celebrating the Thunderstorm!!

My day started off, or rather finished as I ended my night shift-- with a big boom, like an unexpected clap of thunder. In a hurry, a foot got caught and pain resulted in another’s life—because of me. Driving home I was in tears, angry at life and the frustration of trying to keep going, doing the best you can and encountering the overwhelming obstacles that hinder the process. I was having a Charlie Brown ARRRRGH moment.

As this tirade continued and I included God in the conversation, telling Him why I was so upset, yes ANGRY about life, as usual He allowed me to vent and then brought that wisdom and understanding of “Why it is storming in your life.” First He reminded me of the fact --- A good thunderstorm is essential in the process of life. Being from Arkansas, a part of tornado alley---we can tell you of the ‘good uns’ we have had. In fact a true Arkansan will excitedly proclaim---“God, how I love a good thunder bumper and the lightning show that goes along with it.” We will sit and watch that storm come rolling in and exclaim with great enthusiasm—“Did you see that one!!!” We will also jump with a big clap of thunder, but still shout out our joy of such a show and probably a much needed summer rain. Yep—those thunderstorms are usually a much welcomed event. Farmers will tell you that they enrich and loosen the earth and help with the growing process. Science confirms this too.

“Lightning plays a minor role in the nitrogen cycle, one of the great ecological networks that facilitates life on the planet. While nitrogen gas is the most abundant in the atmosphere, most organisms can't use it for essential growth and function until the gas is transformed into nitrogen compounds called nitrates. Lightning converts, or "fixes," a small amount of nitrogen in the atmosphere into nitrates, as Tom L. McKnight notes in "Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation" (1999), but most of the important fixation comes from biological processes of organisms like certain bacteria and fungi.
And the evolution of life on Earth may have involved the influence of lightning. Some theories suggest it may have sparked the production of atmospheric oxygen by driving, with its elevation of heat and temperature in the vicinity of its path, chemical reactions of water vapor and carbon dioxide generated by volcanic eruptions. If so, lightning may have contributed to the development of photosynthetic processes.”

Crazier yet, especially after the terrible wildfires we have had this year---lightning is one of the major causes of wildfires on earth, and thus wields a huge ecological influence. What? Wildfires are good? Many parts of the world, fires are critical mechanisms of ecological disturbance, influencing the course of ecosystem succession, which refers to the cycling-through of plant communities. A big wildfire heats the lower atmosphere and causes air masses to rise. This process can provoke more lightning, enhancing the original blaze. And that smoke—a part of the change in the atmosphere that will affect the environment—by God’s design in a good way. However, sad to say anymore, not all is a part of His perfect plan in our world; which brings us back to the thunderstorms in my life.

When, I am not in harmony, at peace, rushed and hurried---just like the collisions of hot and cold colliding and causing lightning and thunder---so it is that when I go against what is good—the bad will happen. It is God’s way of allowing what is bumpy to slow us down and cause us to stop and reflect, so we can see the error of our ways. This should reveal how mistakes happen and we can do something about it. We need to take advantage of the loosening up of our carefully gardened world so that the seeds planted can grow and we can then become fruitful, gifted by His wisdom that branches off into understanding, knowledge and discernment. This in turn branches off into compassion, mercy, love and forgiveness as we are able to accept the plowing up of the ground and the fertilizer dumped on us at times. All a part of His Plan. So, good venting, deep breathing and be at peace like the sweetness of the air after a summer shower. Learn to enjoy those thunderstorms as they come into your life—they are needed.

May the Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always--in all the storms that come your way--give God the praise for His mysterious ways.