The Thunder of His Voice

At this also my heart trembles and leaps out of its place. Keep listening to the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth. Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
Job 37:1–3
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The Thunder of His Voice
The distant roll of thunder can either bring heightened stress or great joy.  To those who live in areas prone to flood, a thunderstorm with heavy rains can mean losing everything.  Panic sets in, and the heart trembles.  Yet that same storm can be the answer to another’s prayer. The rancher whose pastures are parched from a summer drought smells the rain in the air and hears the peal of thunder, and his heart trembles with the possibility of relief for his livestock and the ability to make it through one more season. For us Christians, the voice of God can bring similar reactions. The sinner in us fears God’s voice. It causes us to hide as Adam did in the garden, hoping that God will not find us and notice our sin. Our hearts tremble at His thundering Words of Law, which convict us. We know our guilt and fear our punishment. Yet, the thundering voice of our God on a desolate hill in Palestine declared, “It is finished.” And so we hear the Gospel spoken to us, and our hearts tremble in awe, as the depths of God’s love are made known to us in Christ Jesus.  We keep listening to His thundering voice, knowing we are forgiven as the waters of our Baptisms continue to bring life to our souls scorched by sin.