WHEN LIGHTNING STRIKES

by Pastor Tom

“In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” -Ephesians 1:13-14

I was delighted to return from a trip out of the country to find that we have finally received some much needed rain during this past week. And, along with the rain comes the lightning. Not far from here, in a 60 mile wide path that cuts across the state down around Tampa, known as “Lightning Alley,” lightning strikes occur more than 90 days each year. Of the 40 million strikes per year in the United States, 400 actually hit people. Half of them die as a result, and the majority of those deaths happen in Lightning Alley. The most dangerous spots, by the way, tend to be grocery store parking lots.

It’s true that one of the safest places to be in a lightning storm is an automobile. Contrary to what most folks think, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the rubber tires. The real reason that most cars are safe is because they have metal bodies. They do indeed get struck by lightning from time to time, but the metal body of a car acts as a Faraday Cage. The electrical charge of the strike is dispersed around the body and remains on the outside of the car. Those inside are kept neutral and perfectly safe.

People should be aware of the fact that convertibles and cars with plastic bodies also get struck with lightning on occasion, but offer no electrical protection for the occupants. These types of cars might look a lot like other cars, but without the metal cage surrounding the people inside, there’s no protection from a sudden strike.

Lightning has incredible power. It’s is kind of comforting to think that, while in your car, lightning could literally crash down on you, and you’d be snug as a bug in a rug. It would sizzle and crash and flash all around you with no ill effects. It makes me think of what Paul says about the way we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Those who have heard the word of truth and believed have this amazing shield of protection all around them. Nothing will have the power to come along and blast them out of God’s kingdom. The Holy Spirit will keep and protect them until the day comes when they can acquire personal possession of the eternal life that Christ won for them on the cross. Amazing!

Cars and religious systems share something in common. From the outside, they might look a lot alike, but there are some models that offer no real protection at all to those inside, and they may never know until lightning strikes.