Suddenly, the storm stopped, and all was calm.

Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?” Luke 8:22b-25a (NLT)

The first flash of lightning lit up my bedroom like daytime, and it was quickly followed by a crash of thunder that began as a crack loud enough to wake the dead and continued to roll loudly through the surrounding hills for what seemed like forever. I checked the radar, and it was so full of lightning symbols I could barely see the radar imprint over our area. That was at 4:48 AM. It is now 9:30 on Monday morning, and there is still thunder rumbling all around, not as loud as those earlier displays, but certainly not giving up its hold on Clever, MO.

Last week’s message encouraged us to be still and listen for God to speak. Today, stillness wasn’t necessary. His voice spoke loudly in the dark of night.

But let me backtrack a bit. It wasn’t exactly a banner weekend for us. It seemed all our best-laid plans just disappeared into thin air. I won’t bore you with details; suffice it to say, not much went as we had wanted. On top of that, or maybe partly because of it, my writing muse seemed to be AWOL. I had hoped that something or someone at church would provide a spark that could turn into a useful message, but that was not to be.

As the day wore on, bad news kept tumbling into my lap. I heard a notification on Ken’s iPad that, considering the darkening sky, could have been a weather warning. He was working in the garage, so I checked it out, only to learn that Iran had broken its peace promise and lobbed missiles at Israel again. A little later, Ken read me a horrible story of how one government was forcing small children into slave labor in order to pay off debts incurred by their parents through the unethical practices of that same government. And then, Ken announced that a tornado warning had been issued for Springfield. What was that about? All our forecasters had agreed that the rains predicted for the weekend didn’t carry a severe threat, and yet the heart of Springfield was under a violent siege. We turned on the TV around seven thirty and found our trusty weather specialists in the midst of continuous coverage, which lasted until ten o’clock. A couple of tornadoes were confirmed, but they were brief. Thankfully, no lives were lost, and property damage was not widespread.

Here’s the thing….before falling asleep last night, I asked God to show me clearly what this week’s message should be, and He gave me a very noisy and conclusive response. Whatever worries I have are minor in the grand scheme of things because He is still in control. A God who can stir up the heavens as He has done can surely solve the problems of humankind. He will be with little children who are oppressed and hurting. He will ride out all our storms right beside us because He loves us and wants to protect us. And if some government leader decides it might be a good idea to press that button that unleashes nuclear war on our world, He gives us an out….it’s called heaven. What more could we want?

For now, the storms of life will keep coming, and after checking the forecast, it looks like we may have a bumpy week ahead. Just remember, God is still in control, and nothing or no one can defeat Him. Trust Him to be right by your side.

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting, “Hallelujah! For the Lord God Almighty reigns. Revelation 19:6 NIV