Hidden From the Storm

On our recent hiking trip on the Appalachain Trail, the forecast was for rain and scattered thunderstorms.  We had checked the radar on our drive to Amicalola Falls State Park, where our shuttle was to pick us up and take us to our starting point.  It wasn't clear if the storm would just skirt pass us or hit us directly.  Much depended upon our hiking speed.

We hiked through rain for much of our trip but never had any indications of thunderstorms until the second day.  As we walked we increasingly heard the rumbling of thunder far way (at least we hoped it was far away.)  While crossing a foot bridge over a creek we heard the first crack of lightening.  Having observed many fallen trees scarred along their trunks with lightening, this was not a comforting experience.

I had read several times the things to do, and NOT do, when one encounters lightening on the trail.  Just past the creek we crossed was an area matching the description of a "less dangerous place" (I refuse to call any place on a mountain "safe" during a thunderstorm.)

As we sat and waited it out, we ate a snack and listened intently to the quiet between the claps of thunder and the cracks of lightening.  Finally the quiet between thunder and lightening grew farther and farther apart.  We were able to continue on with no more evidences of thunderstorms.

As we hunkered down from the storm, I felt quite hidden.  Small trees encircled us with taller ones behind them.  We could hear the gentle sounds of the creek bubbling in harmony with the thunder and lightening.  It reminded me of the chorus of a great hymn, "A Wonderful Savior," written by Fanny Crosby:

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,

That shadows a dry, thirsty land;

He hideth my life in the depths of His love,

And covers me there with His hand,

And covers me there with His hand.

We have a friend who frequently prays for others that they might be found in the center of the Lord's will.  If we are in the Lord's will, at the place where the Lord wants us to be, then we can not be safe anywhere else.  No matter how much thunder rolls around us, or lightening flashes near us, we must affirm to be content where He has placed us and trust Him to work out His eternal purpose in Christ Jesus in and through us.

"And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, 

What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

Mark 4:41