His lightning lights up the world- Psalm 97: 4
On the evening of Sunday, September 13, 2009 we had an unforgettable lightning storm in Hong Kong. The weather observatory reported later that 13,000 strikes of lightning had animated the sky in a two -hour period. I was in church at the time and the pastor stopped speaking. The congregation sat and marveled at the amazing display as God illuminated the world in brilliant bursts of electric light.
Although we tend to think of lightning as a negative thing, that night it was something beautiful. We didn’t dread each strike but looked forward to it, ready to be awed once again at its power and radiance. I’ve learned there are positively and negatively charged lightning strikes. Positive ones are ten times more powerful than negative ones. I’ve also discovered there are more than a dozen different kinds of lightning.
We live in a world of negativity. People, and the media in particular, tend to look on the dark side of things and project pessimism about the future. Those of us who believe in God and follow Jesus Christ have a powerful message of positive hope that we can use to ‘light up’ our negative world in much the same way as the psalmist says God’s lightning lights up the world. Just like there are many different kinds of lightning so each of us has been given different abilities we can use to light up the world in our own unique way.
Respond: God I want to use my gifts and talents to light up the world with your hope. Illuminate me so I can be a positive force wherever there is negativity.
Note: The photo below is by David Thompson. It was taken September 13, 2009 in Hong Kong and won an award from National Geographic. 
