I like to stand outside during a thunderstorm–not in an open field, but on my front porch or in the open garage. There is something startling, something awe-inspiring, and even a bit frightening about the lightning that flashes across the sky and the thunder that can be felt and not just heard.

There are repeated Old Testament references to the power of God being displayed in such “natural” events. (See, for example, Exodus 20:18, Psalm 18:7–15, or 2 Samuel 22:8–16.) It would seem that there is something spiritually healthy about pausing and reflecting on how such displays might convey something of the power and glory of our God.

As we approach the celebration of the Savior’s death and resurrection, I reflected on another moment of such powerful displays orchestrated by God. The details are found in Matthew’s Gospel, reporting on what was happening:

They crucified Him . . . Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. . . . And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. (Matthew 27:35–52)

What do you think it would have been like to be in Jerusalem on that particular day, at that moment of time? Whether you were at Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified, or somewhere else in the city, what would you have experienced?

What happened was not simply a random geological event or a whimsical meteorological occurrence. God did something. Yes, He was doing something in the sacrifice of His Son, but He was also putting on a kind of audiovisual display that was intended to communicate something. And that something was, in a word, frightening.

Just think. Have you ever been in a severe earthquake? It can be incredibly disturbing. What if, in some entirely unexpected way, the sun was blocked out in the middle of the day. That would raise all kinds of concerns. For the word to go out that something dramatic had happened to the temple, the very holy place of God, might likely have stirred panic. Who would have wanted to be near a graveyard when the tombs broke open and bodies rose from the graves?

We might speculate as to the specific implications of each of these God-orchestrated happenings, but I would suggest that, taken as a whole, they were designed to frighten people out of their daily stupor and awaken them to the reality that something truly cosmic was happening.

Something wholly unexpected, something incredibly powerful, something (literally) earth-shaking. That moment in time was startling, frightening, and life-altering.

Don’t fail to pause . . . take time out of the busy-ness of your daily life . . . and allow yourself to be jolted out of the mundane commonness of life to realize that God showed Himself in a display of incredible power.

“Worship the LORD . . . tremble before Him, all the earth!” ~ Psalm 96:9