Thursday, May 13, 2010

Thunderstorm Mercy

We are entering the rainy season here in Togo. That means that we have sudden intense rain storms with cooler winds, lots of lightning and rumbling thunder. I love them! Today is Roses' birthday. We sat out together on deck 7 for morning prayer, enjoying her day and the storm. Then she shared with me that for some a thunderstorm is not so lovely.

I was surprised. I was looking upon that storm as God's grace, putting nitrogen back into the ground, and soaking the crops of Togo. I thought briefly of the prayer requests that came out of Kenya not so long ago that the rains would return so the crops would not die another season...

Then she explained. She grew up in Nepal. As she had been sitting out this morning watching the storm roll in, the night watchman had come by. He said quietly that he did not celebrate such storms. He comes from Nepal. His aunty and her daughter were both killed by lightning when it struck the shed where they were milking the water buffalo their family kept. Roses explained that many people die due to lightning each year in Nepal.

I looked soberly out upon the storm's majesty, and realized that I had underestimated its power--just like we tend to underestimate the might of God!

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