Go Tampa Bay Lightning!

The World Cup is tied with the Chicago Blackhawks 2-2 meanwhile outside …. more Lightning

Lightning is a sudden electrostatic discharge during an electrical storm between electrically charged regions of a cloud between that cloud and another cloud or between a cloud and the ground.

And it happens a lot did you know?  Cloud-to-ground lightning bolts are a common phenomenon—about 100 strike hit the Earth's surface every single second—yet their power is extraordinary. Each bolt can contain up to one billion volts of electricity.

Although lightning is always accompanied by the sound of thunder, distant lightning may be seen but be too far away for the thunder to be heard. 

Do you find it electrifying? Terrifying? Inspiring? All of these are valid responses, and indeed, hints to deeper symbolic meaning of lightning. Lightning is a metaphor for human emotions such as: Fear, Reverence, Creativity and much more. Witnessing lightning has a tendency to churn up a whole slew of internal reactions. In essence, lightning ignites our deeper selves. These bolts of energy can potentially tap into our basic emotions. In many cultures, lightning has been viewed as part of a deity or a deity in and of itself. How does it make you feel when you see that powerful voltage crackling in the skies?

Thunder and lightning announced the presence and power of God.  Exodus 19:16-18.

Power of God: "He made .... a way for the lightning" Job 28:26; "He directs .... his lightning" Job 37:3; Ask the LORD…. who fashions lightning Zechariah 10:1

Bright and/or shining: Daniel in his vision saw a man and "his face (was) as the appearance of lightning" Daniel 10:6

Figuratively and poetically: David sings of Yahweh…He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them. Psalm 18:14; used for speed: The chariots .... run like the lightnings Nahum 2:4: His arrow shall go forth as the lightning Zechariah 9:14; The living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning Ezekiel 1:14. The coming of the kingdom is described by Jesus as the shining of the lightning from one part of heaven to another, even…from the east to the west Matthew 24:27; Luke 17:24

 

Judgement and wrath Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. Revelation 16:18

 

Wonder and awe:  From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Revelation 4:5

 

In fact, the Bible says that once man has seen the magnificence, the intricacies, and the beauties of what has been created, and light shows in the sky….we then have no excuse for not knowing that God exists. And if God is for real, then we should be very excited, appreciative, interested and humbled in what He has to say about where we are now and where we are going.

 

For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.... Romans 1:20

 

Go outside and stand in a severe thunderstorm and think about where you stand with the God of the Universe?