There is a huge storm rolling through north Dallas right now. The awesome display of water, electricity, and wind is impressive and my eyes struggle to take it all in, trying to frantically dash after elusive lightning strikes, usually over before I can look their way. God's mighty power is evident.....
Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail? Who has cleft a channel for the flood, or a way for the thunderbolt? Has the rain a father? Can you lift up your voice to the clouds so that an abundance of water will cover you?
Like an uninvited phone call during dinner, my mind suddenly turns to Biloxi, Mississippi. To anyone who has ever participated in hurricane relief work, a set of images is now forming in your mind. In an instant, my mind is on Obunga. To anyone who has ever tried to walk the paths of an African slum during the rainy season, you are now remembering a near-impossible task. I am thinking of Sam. To anyone who has been privileged to meet and hold a conversation with a homeless person recently, you are now considering the plight of those with no roof during a cold rainstorm. And of course, Balcones de Palin leaps into my thoughts like a cold dagger. To anyone who has nearly perished in a flash flood in a foreign country or known the death that a storm brings to people in a community with no flood control, you are now sitting soberly valuing your life.
What is man, that you remember him? Or the son of man that you are concerned about him? You have appointed him over the works of your hands, you have put all things in subjection under his feet. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.
We have not yet inherited the earth. We do not yet control the elements or have authority over the things of this world. But Jesus Christ went first, suffering death in order to taste death for everyone. He is our brother in this world, having experienced what we experience, in order that he might help us in our time of need. And he has gone before us as the pioneer, declaring that he now has all authority on heaven and on earth. He will free those who are in slavery to the fear of death and someday welcome us into the same authority over heaven and earth.
Though now we see suffering and death, though now we languish in hopelessness at the oppressive and destructive systems of this world, though we feel lonely and abandoned, one day we will take all authority on heaven and on earth as the rightful heirs of the creation. It is the free gift of God because he loves us.
Sources: Job 38 and Hebrews 2
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