STRUCK BY LIGHTNING

The research article on David Wilkerson's THE VISION is still available by going to the Archives, on the lower right, and choosing 3/8-3/15.

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STRUCK BY LIGHTNING!

There currently is a commercial for auto insurance showing a car that gets struck by lightning. Perhaps you’ve seen it.

Here’s the scene: A young businessman is in heavy, downtown traffic and not paying attention (that’s a trait of the young, and especially blondes). He accidentally bumps the van in front of him causing the van’s bumper to fall off. A sign on the van shows that it belongs to a convent, “The Sisters of Perpetual Mercy.” Immediately after the bumper tap, a very angelic-looking nun emerges from the van holding a 36-inch wooden ruler; she smiles at the offender and gently taps the hood of his car with the ruler. Continuing to smile, the nun never says a word and gets back in her van. The young man looks confused and then begins to laugh nervously with obvious relief. Suddenly out of the blue, as the driver is laughing, his car is hit by a bolt of lightning. The final scene of the commercial shows the confused and stunned young businessman sitting in his heavily damaged car with his clothes slightly smoking, a brand-new deep tan on his face, and his hair standing straight up.

I laugh every time I see the commercial. The person who dreamed this up has tapped into a fear that is resident in so many. The exploited fear is that God is really a nasty person looking for opportunities to swing his giant sword of justice with little provocation and, as I would put it, “crunch your Fritos just for the heck of it.”

Now let me tell you another story.

A businessman was about to go away on a trip. He called three employees into his office and gave them instructions.

“I have a project for you to work on while I am away. I’m going to give you each a different sum of money and I want you to invest the money and make it work for you the best way you can. I’ll expect a full report when I get back.” To first man he gave $5000, to the second he gave $2000, and to the last he gave $1000.

Upon his return the businessman called the three together and asked for a report.

“Boss,” the first man said, “You gave me $5000 and I was able to invest it and did very well. I am returning not only the $5000 but an additional $5000 that I was able to earn from the investment.”

The second man had a similar story and he handed his boss the full amount that he gave him to invest plus another $2000 that came in from his business scheme.
The final man gave his boss back the amount of money he had been given with the explanation, “I know you are a tough, no-nonsense, hard-to-please man. You are shrewd and aggressive in business and so I took the money and put it under my mattress where it would be safe. Here it is, all that you gave me. I didn’t lose a dime.”

The businessman looked at the third employee in amazement and asked, “Why didn’t you take the money and at least put it in a savings account to earn a little interest?”
The man replied, “Because I was afraid.”

This story is a parable found in Matthew 25:14-29; the businessman is God and the employees are his children (that would be us).

I find verses 24 and 25 to be very revealing about the misperceptions of the third employee. In verse 24 he describes his employer as “a hard man.” The third man perceived that God was a stern, angry man just looking for ways to mistreat His children. In the insurance commercial, the implication is that God is an angry man ready to throw down on anyone who makes a mistake or does something wrong. This is a wrong understanding, a wrong perception of God, His character and His nature.

In verse 25 when the man was challenged about why he did what he did, he said “I was afraid.”

This man did not fear God, he was afraid of God. The Bible says we are to fear God which means we reverently are in awe of Him, we honor and respect Him as the Creator, the one true God. You do not treat the eternal Creator of the Universe lightly and flippantly, you treat Him with respect that is born out of gratitude for who He is and what He has done for you. To be afraid of God is to be paralyzed into inactivity. People that are afraid don’t do anything except hide. The first two men in the parable had a healthy respect for their employer and they did what he asked.

I am not afraid of God but I do fear Him.