A Holy Rumble

This morning I was straightening my hair when, over the static white noise of the nearby baby monitor, I heard an incredible rumble as something drove by my house. I rushed to the window and although I could still hear the sound, the vehicle responsible for making the sound was gone. The noise lingered long after the vehicle was gone, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the truck (or whatever it was) had been nearly as impressive as the racket it created. As I repositioned myself and resumed working on my hair, I thought about what I had heard and was reminded of something from when I was probably about 17 years old.

My parents and I went to a festival at the army base near our home. We had heard of the festivities that would take place, and my parents (and the others at the event) seemed especially excited about a flyover that was scheduled for that morning. Apparently, it had been arranged for a B-1 bomber to make an appearance. As a skeptical teenager, I was neither excited when the plane appeared on the horizon nor impressed when it flew low over the crowd. Everyone around me ooh-ed and aah-ed as it went past, and I thought, “Good grief. These people need a life. What’s the big deal?” As we watched it disappear as quickly as it had come, the excitement in the crowd didn’t diminish….nor did my enthusiasm increase.

In just a few seconds, though, the sound of what had passed moments before finally reached us. My hands flew to my ears, my eyes became round and watery, my heart rumbled in my chest, the air was sucked from my lungs, and I became seriously concerned about the barbecue sandwich I had eaten for lunch. The noise, though it lasted only a second or two, was incredible. In the conditions for which the bomber was created, this feature was essential. Obviously, if an enemy heard such a noise they would know something was there; the plane had been designed in such a way that it could do its damage and be gone before its sound reached the ears of its target. The bomber that had caused the excitement had long since disappeared into the haze of the Georgia summer sky, but for several minutes after its mayhem had passed, I was awestruck. For the rest of the day, I talked about little else, as excited as a child on his first trip to the circus. I couldn’t get over how something that had at first done nothing to impress me could leave such an effect after it was gone. It was amazing to me.

Reflecting on this, I am reminded of my reaction, many times, to what God is doing in my life. So often, I am unimpressed by my circumstances and am consequently blind to the bigger picture. I don’t see all that God is doing – the people He is introducing, the events He is orchestrating, the tools He is implementing – until much later. In His wisdom, He remains invisible as He works, allowing me to make choices on my own and to live my life as I will. Once His work is finished, though, if I take the time to look, He allows me to see how He worked it all out and how it fits into a bigger picture for my life and His kingdom. The events of my life are unimpressive until the after-effects reach my awareness. His fingerprints are all over my life as I look back, and again I am awestruck.

I would love to have the same attitude about what God does in my life as a child does about his day at the circus, or as I did at a younger age when I witnessed an impressive piece of war equipment. I would love to remain in awe, amazed at how it all worked out and yammering on to anyone who would listen about the God who made it possible. I want to remember to look back frequently, allowing myself to again have my breath taken away and my stubborn skepticism erased by the face and handiwork of a sovereign Lord.

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

The the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18-23)