WEEK THREE: GOD IS THE DEFENDER

I have a strange fascination with clouds. We all love to stop and admire the colors cast onto big fluffy clouds during a dramatic sunset. I’m sure when we were younger, all of us at one point or another have sat outside and looked at the clouds to find shapes. But I never stopped… Even now, as an adult, I will stop what I’m doing on a regular basis to take photos on my phone of cloud formations and post them on social media. I even took a meteorology class in college because I wanted to learn more about clouds and how they work.

Most of us have sat on the front porch of a house during a storm to experience the commotion of the lightning, thunder, and rain (from a safe vantage point, of course). But how far would we be willing to take this curiosity? Would we stay on the porch if we saw a funnel cloud forming? Would we stand in the middle of the field to take out our phone and film a tornado that was coming right toward us?

Some people have done this…

Some people even make a living out of chasing tornadoes for research.

But many of the comments on their videos make it clear that this activity can veer toward a disregard the fear of the power behind these particular clouds and the destruction they could cause.

Is it possible to love something, but also fear it?

The idea behind reverence is this balance between awe, respect, adoration, and a healthy fear.

We serve a powerful God. A God who loves us and treats us like the most caring father would treat a beloved child. But this same God is strong enough and fearsome enough to protect us from our enemies, defend us from any foe, and defeat the most evil forces of this world.

We see this idea described well in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series: the lion Aslan represents God, who can be gentle and kind, but also very protective of those he has determined to save. When the Pevensie children first learn that Aslan is a lion, they ask some friends in Narnia if Aslan is safe.

The response says it all: “Safe?...Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” (The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe)

Wind and clouds can be beautiful, but they can also be unpredictable and destructive.

With God, we can worship him with reverence, knowing confidently that this great power is always on our side—that this fearsome, awesome God is our greatest defender.