I don’t know where I got that idea from but that’s what I thought when I was a little girl. And when it was coupled with thunder and lightning, then it must be that God is terribly angry. I had heard stories of people who got struck by lightning and died on the spot. So whenever the skies were flashing and the earth was quaking and the rains were hitting the windows with such merciless force, you’d find the younger me looking on helplessly and praying earnestly to God to forgive me of my sins and spare my life as I was too young to go.
I remember screaming and abandoning the fufu pestle I was holding as I ran into the house when I saw a flash of lightning. A second later, I heard my mother shriek in pain as the heavy pestle hit her head. Poor mother. So sorry; it was reckless and selfish of me. But she understood (and still understands) this fear of mine. God bless her gentle heart. It took some growing up for me to understand that it was normal to rain and that there was a season when it rained often. But I can’t help but picture my younger self trembling whenever the heavy rains fell with its thunder and lightning escorts.
This makes me reflect on our attitude to confession in the face of pending doom. We sometimes conveniently forget to come clean on our shortcomings when everything is going well in our lives but only remember to confess in bad times. We shouldn’t be in a hurry to confess just because we want to be spared any punishment but because we love God enough not to hurt Him by our wrong words and actions. So perhaps, it all boils down to how intimate our relationship with God is and how seriously we take God’s ‘feelings’ into consideration.
Just like a husband apologizing to his wife after disrespecting her in public not necessarily because he regrets being insensitive to her feelings but because he doesn’t want to be denied his evening meal or night sex sounds – selfish on his part, right? God knows our hearts and as He is a holy God and wants to commune with those of a pure heart, we should strive to be honest and live right by Him.
Now I don’t wait to hear thunder rumbling before I go on a confession spree. Thanks to the Holy Spirit, I’m promptly convicted when I err and whisper a prayer of pardon. All sins are forgiven the instant we earnestly seek for forgiveness; none is put on hold for deliberation.
So what are you waiting for? Anything you have to confess? Do it now!
© Josephine Amoako 2017