When Lightning Strikes

A couple of weeks ago, during a really bad thunderstorm, we had lightning surge into our house through a power line.

It caused a loud crack, and it felt like the windows shook and the whole house rattled. Scared the heck out of us, that’s for sure. The surge shorted out some of our electronics, and caused some headaches, to be certain. But it also served to help me keep things in perspective, almost as if someone…or perhaps that should be “S”omeone…wanted to remind me of what’s important in life.

We were not hurt in any way, shape or form, and the house turned out to be fine. Yet, immediately after the lightning surge, all I could do was moan and groan over the loss of a DVD player or two, and the inconvenience it was costing me. My perfect little home had been struck, and I couldn’t get over the fact that I had been inconvenienced.

And yet, I saw on the news the very night after the lightning surged into our home the stories of the individuals in the Midwest who have been suffering just catastrophic damage due to floods and tornadoes. These people didn’t just lose a few pieces of electronics. They lost whole homes, and in some cases, lives, due to these terrible storms that have just wracked that area.

Gradually, I started to realize that I needed to really get a clue as to what was important in life.

You see, I got lucky. Neither I nor anyone else in the home was hurt. The house was intact, and is a good house after all, well built by a good homebuilder. It was annoying to be sure, but honestly, it was all going to be okay.

Now, let me be perfectly clear, I do not believe that God decided that He’d send a lightning surge into my home and wipe out a few electronics just to teach me a lesson. I just don’t believe that, never have, never will.

But, He was there afterwards, once again pointing me to important lessons in life. Lessons such as learning to value the really important things in life, such as simply being alive, family, friends, and the love of a best friend. I hadn’t experienced a tragedy. I’d just had a setback, and once again, the opportunity was presented to me to either choose to be annoyed and irritated at having lost “stuff”, or choosing to be really grateful that I was alive and well.

It took me a while, but I’m now pretty darn grateful that I’m alive and well, and lived to tell the story of the lightning strike. Sometimes, I think despite my best intentions, I’ve become accustomed to all of the modern conveniences in life, and it has made me a bit spoiled. Sometimes, a little bad weather needs to occur to help keep me grounded in reality. And yes, sometimes, a lightning strike can contain a lot of lessons if one just opens his heart up to God in the aftermath.

I get it Big Fella.

Life’s still so worth living, and I am really grateful for all that I have in my life.

-The Minister