An Unusual Animal Walk
This evening Jacob and I took our animal walk, as we usually do. It was still pretty cloudy, so we could hear the airplanes overhead, and we could hear them approaching the Atlanta airport very well, too. In the distance there was the sound of thunder mixing in with the sounds of the airplane engines. Jacob and I enjoyed following Midnight as she hunted all around for critters.
Then, I looked ahead through the tall pine trees. There was a plume of white smoke. Sometimes our neighbors burn some of the brush and leaves, but this is not the right season for that. I looked more closely, and it lined up with another house a few hundred yards away, so I feared a house fire. I walked up on one of those about 5 years ago in our neighborhood. However, that was not the case this time. We rounded the bend in the trail, and I could see a very tall pine tree smoking from a huge gash in the trunk about 50 feet above the ground. It was then, I knew what had happened.
Last night we were in our kitchen when a loud crash of thunder followed immediately after the sky lit up with a lightning bolt. Chris remarked that it must have hit very close to our house. We could not see anything then, but this tree was the impact point. It had been burning all night and all day. The electricity must have gone all the way down to the roots, and the entire tree trunk was on fire on the inside. It was amazing.
All I could think of was the power of God. That spectacular damage and fire was just the result of one flash of lightning. How many bolts of lightning hit all around the world every day? I am sure it is thousands and thousands. Still that is just a minute fraction of the power of God. It caused me to reflect on the power it took to create the universe. Then, I realized that God's power was available to me, if I will trust Him and delight in Him. My dream is to see God's spiritual lightning bolts start a fire that will never go out in the hearts of many people. I know He can and will do that if I will pray and obey.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 23-25.
Then, I looked ahead through the tall pine trees. There was a plume of white smoke. Sometimes our neighbors burn some of the brush and leaves, but this is not the right season for that. I looked more closely, and it lined up with another house a few hundred yards away, so I feared a house fire. I walked up on one of those about 5 years ago in our neighborhood. However, that was not the case this time. We rounded the bend in the trail, and I could see a very tall pine tree smoking from a huge gash in the trunk about 50 feet above the ground. It was then, I knew what had happened.
Last night we were in our kitchen when a loud crash of thunder followed immediately after the sky lit up with a lightning bolt. Chris remarked that it must have hit very close to our house. We could not see anything then, but this tree was the impact point. It had been burning all night and all day. The electricity must have gone all the way down to the roots, and the entire tree trunk was on fire on the inside. It was amazing.
All I could think of was the power of God. That spectacular damage and fire was just the result of one flash of lightning. How many bolts of lightning hit all around the world every day? I am sure it is thousands and thousands. Still that is just a minute fraction of the power of God. It caused me to reflect on the power it took to create the universe. Then, I realized that God's power was available to me, if I will trust Him and delight in Him. My dream is to see God's spiritual lightning bolts start a fire that will never go out in the hearts of many people. I know He can and will do that if I will pray and obey.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 23-25.