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Thunder and Lightning
Read: Psalm 29 | Bible in a Year: Exodus 12–13; Matthew 16
The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. Psalm 29:7

Many years ago a friend and I were fishing a series of beaver ponds when it started to rain. We took cover under a nearby grove of quaking aspen, but the rain continued to fall. So we decided to call it a day and run for the truck. I had just opened the door when lightning struck the aspen grove with a thunderous fireball that stripped leaves and bark off the trees, leaving a few limbs smoldering. And then there was silence.

We were shaken and awed.

Grant me Your peace and the strength to walk through this day.
Lightning flashes and thunder rolls across our Idaho valley. I love it—despite my close call. I love the raw power. Voltage! Percussion! Shock and awe! The earth and everything in it trembles and shakes. And then there is peace.

I love lightning and thunder primarily because they are symbols of God's voice (Job 37:4), speaking with stupendous, irresistible power through His Word. “The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning . . . The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace” (Ps. 29:7, 11). He gives strength to endure, to be patient, to be kind, to sit quietly, to get up and go, to do nothing at all.

May the God of peace be with you.

Calm my spirit in the storms, Lord. Grant me Your peace and the strength to walk through this day.

Faith connects our weakness to God's strength.

INSIGHT:
Psalm 29:3 says, “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders.” The Lord is called “the God of glory”; therefore, in keeping with God’s character, we should “ascribe to the Lord glory” (v. 1). The appropriate reaction to whatever is genuinely awesome is to be awe-filled. What do you remember as being breathtaking or awesome? What response did it evoke?