God's Thunder

It’s been a busy season for me. God is stretching me in ways I could never have imagined. Even just a few years ago, I would have snapped like a twig. As I sipped the last cup of coffee remaining in my house this morning (because who has time to go grocery shopping? Ha!), I read Psalm 29 in The Message and I was in awe. Most other translations refer to “God’s voice” or “the voice of the Lord”, but Peterson calls it “God’s thunder.”

"God thunders across the waters," "God’s thunder tympanic,” “God’s thunder symphonic." "God’s thunder spits fire.” “God thunders, the wilderness quakes;" "God’s thunder sets the oak trees dancing"

When I was in middle school, I lived in the midwest, right in tornado alley. Any thunder or lightening struck fear in me, especially at night when I couldn’t see what might be lurking in the distance. I read this Psalm and at first glance I picture a giant storm brewing, loud and chaotic—and it sounds terrifying. I’m not currently living in the path of a literal hurricane as some of my dear friends, but it certainly feels like there is thunder all around me in this season.

This Psalm has shifted my perspective, though. What if the sound I’m hearing is not thunder, but God’s voice? What if the proverbial storm you’re experiencing right now is God quaking the wilderness around you? There are some trees who rely on the whipping wind and pounding rain to strengthen its root system. What if this season we're in isn’t designed to destroy us, but to embrace and empower us?

These words illuminated off the page today…almost as if highlighted by the very lightening in my soul:

Above the floodwaters is God’s throne
 from which his power flows,
 from which he rules the world. God makes his people strong.
 God gives his people peace. Psalm 29:10-11

God is above our storms. He’s not afraid. He’s not struggling through it. He is above it, and his power is greater. But it doesn’t end there—God makes his people strong. And God gives his people peace.

There is a promise in your storm today. Hold onto that with dear life, and when the sun shines again, you’ll be so glad you did! Love you, friends.