It was definitely a rude awakening. A couple weeks ago, at 4:30 a.m., the loudest, closest lightning strike hit our house. As if that wasn’t bad enough…the loud strike was followed by a long, sizzling sound. To say Dan and I jumped…is an understatement. He immediately ran outside to make sure our house wasn’t on fire and fortunately, it wasn’t.
The first consequence of the strike was that we had no power. Dan called the power company and reported it and then all there was to do was wait. Since we could see lights on in either direction from our home, we assumed we were the only ones without power and we were right. Several hours later, workers arrived and it was determined that our transformer had had a direct hit. That’s when we were so thankful that these men knew what to do and were able to hang a new one and get us back in business.
Of course, this was just the beginning of our story, because whenever a home is hit like this with lightening…the effects are not always seen immediately. Some things were obviously fried from the beginning, other things were discovered as time went on, because something can be weakened with the strike and not go out for days, weeks or even months. At this point, we’ve lost our family room TV, the Apple TV box, our washing machine, the water heater, all eight ceiling can lights in our dining room and our internet.
Two things have come to mind since all this occurred. First, Dan and I have said to each other over and over again…how miniscule our incident with a lightning strike was compared to those who were so impacted by the recent hurricanes. Many lost everything…their homes, their jobs, their family members. What we lost was just “stuff”. Nothing we lost was going to heaven or hell…so with no eternal value it should have no effect on our attitude.
Secondly, this lightning strike has reminded me of the lasting effect my sin can have in life. I’m tempted to sin, and I can easily justify my decisions and actions by saying that it won’t impact anyone else. But that is rarely true. My initial sin is like the lightning strike…I commit it and think it’s a one and done, but I immediately lose some of my power in Christ. Many times, it also weakens other areas of my life and before I know it, it has affected me and others around me. We may not see the impact for days, weeks or even months…but sin has a way of creating more chaos and damage than we can even imagine.
The sobering thing is that my sin can have an impact on eternity. If my choices and actions make others have a sour feeling about being a Christian…they may never make the life-changing decision to ask Christ to be their Lord and Savior. I don’t know how you feel, but I never want someone to choose hell over heaven because of my example and my sin.
Life has its issues and sometimes we have “inconveniences” that hit at a moment’s notice and how we act and react tells a lot of where our faith lies. And every day, we have the opportunity to make decisions which can impact heaven or hell. Unfortunately, it often takes a rude awakening to make us realize this sobering thought. Today only happens once and we have the opportunity to make it amazing and count towards eternity. My prayer is that I will keep this at the forefront of my mind…each and every day.
By the way, I had the opportunity to be a guest on our church’s podcast last week as we discussed living our lives “Unhurried”. I’d love for you to check it out. Just click this link: https://hope4thefamily.com/diggingdeeper/?fbclid=IwY2xjawGd7SlleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHSskqLrhEhAcyeoozH8VFPADlvJLinFQrJ1O4nU7cbAB7c4HWf3yJC93JQ_aem_YqtOdbEwZzrcxVkJar7eyA
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