July 18
RZ
I was reading as I noticed the room dimming. I looked up to see a dark cloud floating in the clear blue sky toward the houses on the riverbank where I live in a small rural town in western Montana, set in a beautiful quiet valley in the mountains. It came out of nowhere at about 6:40 PM. As it drew closer, the living room grew much darker within minutes and huge raindrops were beginning to splash against the huge windows looking out over the river. I got up to go over to the windows because lightening began to come down in great waves of flashing light and the thunder began right away as well and was so loud, it sounded as if there was a full blown war going on. The massive, tall Ponderosa Pines in front of me were bending in all directions and swaying wildly in a powerful wind that had also come in with the darkness of this unexpected storm.
I looked up to see one of my two familiar Bald Eagles soaring high above the river which was no longer quiet and gentle, but had turned into a swirling mass of water and waves. The eagle was in a glide, soaring very high as usual -- and then my heart nearly stopped as it was struck by a lightening bolt and fell in a fiery ball into the wild river below. I was in shock and began to wonder what on earth (literally) was happening. I have seen these majestic Bald Eagles daily as long as I've lived in this house and now one of them had fallen,.....aflame,... to a watery grave. I thought immediately of the Eagle and America and it's meaning and my heart sunk. The heavy rain turned into a wall of water and seemed now to be coming from all four directions at once, making it feel as if the room was spinning out of control. I began quoting Psalm 91 aloud and sat back down to wait out the storm that no one was prepared for. The power went out so I lit a candle and reminded the Lord of His promises to me to protect His Own from the storms of life both natural and spiritual.
I could no longer see anything out the windows other than the tops of the pine trees as they brushed against the four large windows facing the mountains and overlooking the river. There was just a solid mass of water which then turned into golf ball sized hail. It was being thrown by the power of the strong winds against the roof and the windows of the entire house. It seemed as though the windows would certainly break under this next barrage, yet as I sat praying, listening to the thundering noises of this freak storm, I couldn't help but wonder if this storm had been permitted by the Lord as a "wake up call" of sorts.The magnificent Bald Eagle being struck midflight and being struck whilst in flight and falling to the water below -- was the Lord speaking to me of what was coming to this nation, America? I could hear crashing sounds and loud thumps that sounded like rifles being fired and prayed that my neighbors were all safe. In the quiet darkness as the storm raged on, making me feel as if I were in a washing machine and dizzy, I continued to pray and quote the Word of the Lord aloud and closed my eyes.
Then a very remarkable thing happened. The storm didn't just peter out slowly -- rather,...it stopped suddenly -- as quickly as it had begun! The dark storm cloud had simply dissipated and was gone! The thunder, lightening, hail and rain were all just gone! I opened my eyes as the sounds just stopped and the sky was bright blue again! My tall pines were leaning to the right and left from the battering they'd taken, but they were still standing strong and tall. I ran to the back of the house and looked out the back side door to my neighbors house and a very old, tall thick tree had snapped like a toothpick and fallen onto the roof of their house! There was another across their driveway. I was concerned because she is with child and her husband works in a city about an hour away and I didn't know if he was home or not. I left a message on his cell phone and was putting on a hoodie sweatshirt preparing to go over to check on her.
As the neighbors all emerged from their homes wondering where the storm had come from, none of us could help looking around at all the trees that had fallen onto houses and vehicles. The hail had damaged a lot of cars parked outside and filled the beds of pick up trucks. It was so surreal. No one had been hurt and despite all the trees that had just snapped off and fallen to the ground or onto houses and cars, everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief. God had protected everyone! My house was the only one in our rural neighborhood of eight homes that had not suffered any damage at all!
I had turned on my shortwave radio and heard "nothing" about this unexpected storm from any station at all while it was happening and even afterward. It turns out that it was specifically over this one very small neighborhood alone. The entire storm had only lasted about fifteen minutes! Was this the Lord speaking to those who would listen, hear Him and pray for this nation? I think so. The fallen Bald Eagle was a grim reminder to me to continue to keep watch for the Bride of Christ, the remnant, or called out ones, in these end times for this once great nation. I pray the Lord's mercy upon all who know and love the Lord, and those who will come to know Him during these days that we are so extremely privileged to live in.
RZ