Thunderstorm

Reflections by the Sea © Betsy Glass

July 14, 2009

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. –Matthew 6:4 NIV

When the weather is hot and the air humid, thunderstorms are likely to occur. They are caused when the warm air rises and then cools. That is what produces the thunderclouds. Within these clouds there is rapid air movement which causes water and ice to bump against each other. A static electrical charge is released and that energy results in the form of lightening and thunder. On the Outer Banks, I think an afternoon thunderstorm is actually a nice welcome at times. It cools a hot day, the rain washes away the days’ footprints in the sand and often times, when the storm is over, the summer haze is blown away with the wind to reveal a cloudless blue sky.
Storms are not always welcome. Some people feel fear and anxiety with an approaching storm. But fear and anxiety do nothing to help us…we can’t chase the storm away with our fear and worry. No, we just have to sit it out. We know to protect ourselves and get out of its’ path. To take shelter and to”batten down the hatches” as they say.

In our lives, we must also weather storms. Not the ones that come in the summer afternoon on a hot and humid day, but the emotional storms that can wreak havoc on our relationships. Sometimes we don’t see these types of storms brewing. But over time, circumstances can cause misunderstandings, disagreements and offenses to add up, which can be stronger and more electrically charged than any thunderstorm Mother Nature can hurl at us. The things that we can control and make right, we should do. When we are at the receiving end of someone’s unloving behavior towards us, we can do nothing more than weather the storm till it blows over… and pray, of course. The Bible says that love covers over all offenses. So when it depends on us, we should always choose love, not hate and pray for the wind to change direction. “I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” by Louisa May Alcott.