Storm-swept
I was walking down a steep hill. In less than a minute the sunshine vanished from between the clouds, and the Hudson River’s waters seemed dark and angry a little further downhill. “The storm’s begun!” I thought, and I was in the middle of it, lost. I didn’t know it then, but I had impatiently gotten off the bus too soon, just moments before. I could hear thunder and see lightning striking on the other side of the river, then lightning seemed to strike from the clouds right above me.
Everything happened so fast. First came a powerful wind, throwing up dirt on me as if I were in a desert whirlwind, then came gusts of rain and dust. I could hear the rain sweeping across the Hudson River, making mighty and awesome sounds. Things just threatened to get worse.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a grocery store. Perhaps I should find shelter there. No, I shall not be discouraged, I said to myself. I stubbornly persisted in my search for North Broadway.
But, just as I turned the corner, a cloudburst hit me. Torrents of rain fell, showering down like a curtain. God is holy, awesome, and cannot be mocked. All of a sudden, my confidence in myself seemed so foolish. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25).
As I turned the corner, a cloudburst hit me. Torrents of rain fell, showering down like a curtain. God is holy, awesome, and cannot be mocked.
The book I had been reading up to the most exciting part on the bus not ten minutes ago, was getting soaked in my hand. And then the cowboy hat I had just bought flew off. Stubbornly, I chased after it in the middle of the pouring rain. I was getting drenched. The hat settled under a car parked nearby. I finally got what I wanted at the price of almost drowning myself.
But heavier rain was on the way. It is no use, I thought, I need to find some place to hide. The moment I decided to seek refuge, I saw that to my right, just a step away, was a perfect spot in a garage where not a drop of rain would land on me if I simply stood and rested.
As I stood, the lightning I saw, sometimes coming more than three strokes at a time from the black, dreadful sky, taught me God’s wrath. “Be Holy,” He said, “because I am Holy” (Leviticus 11:44).
My father once said that Christianity is passive. But God did not seem like that to me that afternoon. When Jesus comes back the second time, it is said that “For as lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:27).
As the rain beat mercilessly on the road, I began to repent of my pride and self-sufficiency. Too many times I have lost sight of God, unconsciously assuming that I am a good human being. Just how sinful I am, perhaps only God knows. I realized then that God is sovereign, and holy, and he alone is Judge.
“Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: ‘Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.’ And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God himself is judge” (Psalm 50:3-6).
When King David of Israel led his people to bring the Ark of the Covenant home to Jerusalem (how it came to be out of place in the first place is a long story), certain men from the tribe of Levi were responsible for moving it.
Though the law of Moses plainly said the Ark of the Covenant should travel with its carrying poles on the shoulders of these Levites, they took the “short cut” of putting it on an oxcart.
Neither King David nor the others thought much of it, until the oxen stumbled and a Levite named Uzzah touched the ark itself to steady it.
“The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God” (1 Chronicles 13:9-10). God has prescribed how to handle His things. Serving God in our human strength can be the deadliest thing we can do. It can cost lives. Because God is Holy, we must come to Him on His own terms, not assuming He will accommodate Himself to us. God is our judge, and he alone can make a way for us to come to him.
It is good to fear the Lord God. Much is said today about God’s love, but we often overlook his wrath. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:18-22).
We’ve always known God, but our sinfulness has blinded us from seeing his obvious majesty. It is wisdom for us to submit to God, to come in our helplessness and ask for his help, his salvation.
As I finally walked up to the house I was looking for after the storm, I noticed my right leg was bleeding. I saw a gigantic tree broken in two, its trunk lying across the road, police standing nearby. It made me think: we are so small and puny. God is awesome: what He creates, though it be magnificent in form, He is able to break. Our excuses for not coming to Him, and our desires for a God that will conform Himself to our wishes, are foolishness.
But if we come to the God who is our judge, we can be sure that he will also become our Savior.
Helen Sun, Calhoun ’95