My Little Girl and Thunderstorms

Devotion for Thursday 4/2

Our Father will always make a way. He will make sure that you will get to your divine appointment – and then let all Heaven break loose.

Read Luke Chapter 13 (this Scripture passage is available at the end of this devotion).

My Little Girl and Thunderstorms

Why are we afraid of thunderstorms? I don’t know. I guess if you were near a lightening strike and could smell the electricity in the air, I think fear is a pretty good response. The power of thunder shaking things around you can make one feel unsettled, and the pounding of the winds and rain can cause one to wonder if the sun will shine again. And then again, it could be the apprehension of the unexpected. The not knowing. The not knowing whether it will be severe, when it will strike, and what the aftermath will be like.

But I think we are afraid of thunderstorms because we forget to sit on our Father’s lap.

My little girl is afraid of thunderstorms, and at times you could probably say she is downright terrified of them. Well, I should clarify; my little girl is 18 now, and was terrified by thunderstorms as a little girl – or maybe she still is, but she is old enough to hide it.

I remember those days, when Krissy would be fearful of the whole thing. If she heard the warning of severe weather from the Emergency Broadcast System on the Weather Channel (though we tried to remember to turn down the volume!), she would get sucked in, and the fear thing would start. She became overwhelmed by the whole affair.

You know, it is interesting when your child is afraid. They will keep their eyes on you without you knowing it – constantly watching if you are afraid. Krissy would do that, her eyes following me, constantly watching my face. I could see her trying to detect any fear in my eyes. I think she was trying to see the storm through me.

One of the best things that ever happened to alleviate her fears was the buying of a computer and connecting to the internet. I could show evidence that the storm had passed by looking at the weather satellite picture. Of course I never wanted to show her that feature if the storm was coming right at us. Some things are better to just go through it, instead of just anticipating it.

Sometimes I would stop and wonder why. Why? Why is she so afraid of thunderstorms? Her brothers were never afraid of thunderstorms, and were quite calm when one passed by. They actually loved watching the beauty of lightening in the sky, the rumble of the thunder, the power of the winds blowing through, and the deluge of rain creating puddles to jump through.

Could it be because of her active imagination? She is a very creative, very intelligent person – could she be held captive to her imagination in letting it take her along? I don’t know. Maybe.

I started to think about it more deeply. I thought about the boys, if we did something different, something that made a difference on how they perceived thunderstorms, and how Krissy saw them. Then it hit me. How could I have been so stupid?

I remembered when the boys were babies, I made it a point of taking them out on the porch, sitting them on my lap, and we experienced our first thunderstorm together. I wanted them to see that if I was completely calm and unafraid, they could also be completely calm and unafraid.

We would sit there, watching all the grandeur going by, and I would make comments on the beauty and power of God’s creation. I was defining the events, so that they could see the storm as I saw the storm.

For whatever reason, I never did that with Krissy. I mean, my little girl loved to sit on my lap, and of course during a thunderstorm. But I never sat her on my lap while she was a baby during a thunderstorm. How could I have been so stupid? I agonized over this.

But then something happened that changed everything for me. Several months ago, Krissy came home from high school, put her things down, saw me at the computer, looked at me, and without a word – just sat on my lap.

As she held me tight, I tried to comprehend what was happening. My little girl is now 18, and a High School senior. She has sat on my lap before while in high school, but I can’t remember her doing this in her senior year.

And as I hugged her, I started wondering if something happened in school. Could someone have hurt her? Did something happen to bring her any disappointment? Or was it simply, “a bad day?” But she gave a big sigh, and just completely relaxed. I could feel things were OK, and she was at rest.

I then realized this could be the last time my little girl would sit on my lap. Soon she will being going off to college, do whatever God has called her to do, get married, and then hold her own children on her lap. Dad will not be needed for that anymore, for she will be older and an adult – and adults don’t do such things.

I treasured every second. (I wonder, is it possible to treasure a millisecond?). I knew this was a very special time, and was only going to be for so long – I wanted the memory of this to stay with me forever.

She didn’t say a word, and she just seemed to be at total rest. I asked her if she was hungry (as a Hungarian father I constantly ask this question!) she said no, and that was that. She went to her room to do homework, and I continued writing.

I don’t know if she will ever tell me why she needed to sit on my lap, and she will never have to. I just treasured every second, remembering all the other times she sat on my lap when she was a little one, trying to hold all those moments, trying to keep them alive, and making sure that they were always carefully placed in my heart forever.

But then it came to me: maybe I wasn’t able to stop her from being afraid of thunderstorms, but she knew where to go if there was one. She knew she could sit on her daddy’s lap anytime when a storm passed by, to feel unafraid, and to be at peace. It would remind her of all the other times as a little one, the feeling of peace and security, knowing that if you were on your daddy’s lap, and had his arms around you – you were safe, and everything would be OK.

There are the thunderstorms of the heart and of the mind. What we think, and how we feel, determines how we perceive the events around us. If fear fills our hearts and minds, we see the wrong things. We see events for our hurt, instead of a loving Father who will always turn events around us for our good.

Our thinking and feelings must be determined in view of the love of God. We first must believe that the Father really does love us, and that He wants us to sit on His lap to watch the thunderstorm pass by. When we see the thunderstorm from His perspective, we are able to see His power and grandeur – instead of simply seeing lightening, wind, and rain.

The Holy Spirit helps us by giving us wings to Heaven, to Jesus, and through His very heart – to the lap of the Father, a place of security and rest.

I know I need to sit in my Father’s lap during the thunderstorms of the heart and mind. But I have a problem – I have no memories of sitting on my dad’s lap during my childhood. What do you do when you don’t know how to sit on your Father’s lap?

Just like any other child, we must learn to. We must trust the Father when He says he loves us – He gave His only Son for us, didn’t He? We might be hesitant as we approach Him, but we must approach Him. We might be afraid He will not let us on His lap, but He will. We may feel unlovable, but He will wrap His arms around us. Our job is just to rest in His love.

And as we watch the storm with the Father, we will see His power and grandeur – instead of simply seeing lightening, wind, and rain.

Luke 13

Repent or Perish

1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

6 He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ 8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’”

A Spirit of Infirmity

10 Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12 But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13 And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
14 But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”

15 The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17 And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

18 Then He said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”
The Parable of the Leaven

20 And again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

The Narrow Way

22 And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”

And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29 They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. 30 And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”

31 On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.”

32 And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’ 33 Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.

Jesus Laments over Jerusalem

34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’”