When a bolt of lightning strikes nearby, we are stunned by the awesome power unleashed from the heavens. A lightning bolt can contain up to a billion volts of electricity. If we are close enough, we are treated to the ear-splitting crack or booming explosive thunder as the enormous electrical charge superheats the air to around 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit creating a sonic boom. Chances are we are startled by this impressive display of nature’s power when it strikes too close for comfort.

And that is just the most common example of the power we ascribe to nature.

Less common, but equally impressive, tornados can contain winds of more than 300 miles per hour and hurricanes, although larger and longer-lived, can achieve winds nearing 200 miles per hour.

Earthquakes and volcanic activity occur even less frequently, but further demonstrate the enormous amount of energy contained in our environment.

If we consider all these powerful actions to be part of God’s toolkit in creating and maintaining our world, we can begin to understand the concept of a powerful creator. From a human perspective, all these displays of power are overwhelming, but when we view these elements from the perspective of our solar system, we can see that they are mere ripples of energy in a much larger environment.

But there is another power at God’s disposal that is the most powerful of all.

We can begin to appreciate this power when we dig deeper into the history of our world and the part that these powers play.

Winds carry seeds across oceans. Lightning sparks forest fires that recreate the landscape. Ocean waves erode shorelines and floods recreate landscapes. Volcanoes build mountains and trillions of drops of water slowly erode those mountains over eons of time.

The final tool that contributes to the effectiveness of all the others is time.

The actions of all the other displays of power are repeated over and over in the course of millions of years of evolution of our planet. It is the compounding effect of time that multiplies the impact of each.

When we contemplate the debate of creation versus the “natural” effects of nature, we might do well to remember one simple fact.

Mankind has been able to master or adapt to all the forces of nature except time. In spite of all the science fiction tales, mankind has yet to find a way to manipulate time or shield himself from its impact.

The secret of time is the one secret that God appears to have kept to himself.

Perhaps time is the strongest evidence yet of the existence of our Creator.