Storms and Sunsets

A great summer storm raged across this area in the middle of the afternoon.   The darkness settled in and then came the distant thunder which soon turned into simultaneous sharp lightning and crashing thunder overhead.  The rain that fell was not gentle.  It was hard and anyone caught in it would not only get soaked, but would surely feel the pain of water being driven to the ground from distant clouds high above the earth.  And while there was no visible damage here on the farm, I would imagine there were places not so fortunate.   

So often when we talk about the creation, we speak of it as something which is filled with benevolent goodness.  The roses always bloom.  The garden is always productive.  The sky is always blue and the sunsets are forever breathtaking.  Creation is something which is easy to romanticize and turn into something which does not exist.  The creation which actually exists around us is one which contains both the beautiful sunsets and the terrifying storms.  And, somehow in a mysterious way it is all a part of God's plan.    

As is creation, so is the Creator.  The creation can be understood as something which bears the imprint of His hands as surely as you and I are marked by those hands as well.  And, even as we are here to bring glory and praise to the Creator, so does the creation exist.  There are many things about the creation we cannot understand and there are many things about the Creator which defy understanding by our finite human minds.  All we can know is that life is not about chance or madness, but design.  The fact that we cannot fathom the design does not deny the reality that the Creator God is at work within each aspect of it in such a way as to bring good into our lives.