Last night’s awesome “Rite of Spring in Summer” was just awesome, but what followed it was a thunderstorm of epic proportions. Witnessing God’s power with concert goers huddled together at Holy Trinity in north Melbourne was quite the experience. For over an hour we witnessed lighting strikes one after another, thunder that shook the building, and torrential rain that flooded an aisle in the auditorium. Added to the mayhem were musicians with their precious instruments, elderly people in wheelchairs and leaning on walkers, and a torn up sidewalk that made people walk a considerably longer distance to get to their cars.
We saw several different reactions. Some people were patient, kind, and enduring. Some took command: “You can’t go out there! the lightning is fierce!” Some were angry that their plans were thwarted, and another several ran to their cars and shouted for others to come and they’d deliver them to their cars. Others, like us had a dilemma. The back of our car was packed with huge crates to support today’s concert in Vero Beach. There was no room in the back for Nancy’s cello. Her car was parked at the furthest end of the other parking lot. The musicians arrived for rehearsal early in the afternoon. They were among the last to leave. Finally, when the lightning was only an estimated mile or two away, my noble husband took Nancy to her car while I stayed safely inside with the cello. We ultimately got our act together among the last few to leave. Still there were some fearful to exit the builidng.
As volunteers, we were the only ones there seemingly in charge except for the percussion people who had a trailer to load with tympani, gongs, keyboards, several delicate drums, and other equipment that filled part of the lobby. The manager of the place, when told about the flooding had no authority to do anything about it. It was a stressful situation.
Personally, I love seeing God’s power in a good thunderstorm, but this one was of epic proportions. When I lived in the Hudson Valley, the story of Rip Van Winkle playing ninepins explained the continuous roar of thunder. This storm, though featured the loud claps that literally shook the place, and streak lightning that lit up the whole landscape. It was one of the “best” I’ve seen. People were estimating how long the storm would take by looking up weather apps on their phones. First the estimate was an hour, but that was far too short a prediction.
After we left to drive home, we saw other results. An accident, flooded lanes in the road, and flooded parking lots. There literally was nowhere for the torrents of rain to go. On the news we’ve seen reports of recent floods from rain. We suspect there will be road closures from this one.
When I wrote my devotional book “Life-Changing Water: from Chaos to Glory” I studied the over seven-hundred references in the Bible to water and how God uses it in many metaphors. This was one to send us to our knees at
at His power and our need for His protection.
About the Author
