August 2023

Dear Cobham Park Church Family,
After last month’s Tuesday revival service, our guest preacher and I finally pulled into my driveway around 10 p.m. As we walked toward my front door, the humid night was instantly illuminated from above. Spasmodic lightning strobes lit various regions of an immense cloud bank in the distance. Every silent flash revealed odd billowy shapes in the cloudy depths. Blacks and grays were suddenly overcome with color: purples, pinks, yellows, and brilliant white. The nearby pines flashed into view—every needle and cone in stark silhouette against the sky. In a split-second, darkness returned, only to be broken again…
It’s been over two weeks since then, but I’m still thinking about that lightning. The experience immediately touched me somehow, even as my mind struggled to understand why it was important. But now, I’m beginning to realize that God was getting my attention. Maybe King David experienced something like this when he said, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork (Psalm 19:1, ESV).”
Before I share more about God’s lightning message, let me explain why I needed to hear it. I’m writing this letter on August 3rd. (Yes, I know that I’m ridiculously late.) After July’s big encouragements and accomplishments, I’m now battling a backlog of much-needed visits and important tasks. My to-do list seems hopeless. I feel like a man who’s late for work, and he’s running to catch the bus that just pulled away without him. And he’s waving and shouting to get the driver’s attention. Oh—and it’s raining. And the man accidentally drops his briefcase, which opens to scatter his important papers on the street. And as he kneels to pick up his papers, a passing car splashes through a mud puddle and drenches him. Have you ever had a week that felt like that?
But then I remembered the lightning. Uninvited, it arrived in the midst of all my careful plans, expectations, worries, and desperate efforts. Much-needed rain was delivered, although I was not consulted. There was nothing I could do to change the direction of that storm cloud or to direct its lightning. I don’t fully understand the finer points of lightning formation, but that didn’t get in its way. And the storm didn’t have to be so beautiful, but it was.
The God who created lightning (and me) is still in control. His love for us is higher than the heavens. His purposes are unstoppable. His love in Christ is beautiful—and it does not depend on our abilities or understanding. You may feel that your world is hopeless, but God has this. Stop, look up at His wondrous beauty, and dare to trust Him again!
In His Love,
Pastor Keith