What a Start to 2010!

Believe it or not, i've already had the scariest night of the year. Ok, so we've only been into 2010 for ten days (Happy New Year, by the way) but it still counts. Before I tell you about this awful night that changed my whole view of fear around, let me give you a short background.

To start, I am very very very scared of natural disasters. For use of a more vivid verb and less adjectives, you could say that i sometimes get terrified. Tremors, hailstorms, tornadoes, hurricanes..you name it and i'm probably scared of it (not that your average joe would just love to be in the middle of a lightning storm, but you know what i mean.)

To end..well, to end we have to go back to my scary night.

Our family took a much needed vacation to the beautiful Tsavo, and spent a few days there at a lodge. One night, in the middle of the night, i woke up in the night and guess what time it was? Yes, nighttime. So i woke up and realized that my bed was shaking. After quickly getting out of my groggy state, i realized a huge storm was raging outside. All of the sudden, a huge lightning bolt struck somewhere quite close to us and the loudest thunder i have ever heard followed. The beds shook, the windows shook, my stomach didn't feel too good all of the sudden, and my heart would have gotten a speeding ticket if there were cops around.
Let's just say from that point on i had a hard time falling back to sleep...and my stomach did too..that's how scared i was.

Later the next day i was with my mom (thank God for her) and we talked about my fear. One of the key things i remember her saying was that (paraphrased) as humans, we can't help our initial emotion to something. It's what we do with it that determines whether we are ruled by it. Of course everyone going to be a little freaked out if thunders shaking your bed, but the response to the emotion is what matters. Am i going to let fear control my life or am i going to let God control and get rid of my fear? She then reminded me of a scripture that we as a church have been proclaiming about the voice of the Lord. "The voice of the Lord is powerful...the voice of the Lord breaks the cedars...the voice of the Lord shakes the desert.." These are just parts of the scripture that totally changed my view of that lightning storm. The creation is never more powerful than the Creator! If God chose at that moment to speak, the storm would have been a whisper compared to His voice. And if God was watching out for those zebras out there, how much more was He concerned for me? Mom also pointed out something so significant (she's really good at that by the way.) Since God's voice is so powerful, the awe and the wonder that He speaks directly to me is amazing! Even in it's gentlest state, His voice changes things. From then on, I chose to step by step, overcome my fear. Who am I to be afraid of something so puny as a lightning bolt? His hand directs them, and His voice could shatter it in a heartbeat. The Lord protects those He loves...and Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so...