The First Thunderstorm of Spring: A Christian Reflection on the Joburg Thunder, the Joburg Fear, and the God Who Speaks in the Storm

The Night the First Thunder Came

There is a night every October in Johannesburg when the first thunderstorm comes. The air has been dry for six months. The garden has been thirsty. The reservoir levels have been low. The Christian in Sandton in 2026 has been waiting for the rain. The Christian has been watching the forecast. The Christian has been watching the cloud building over the Magaliesberg in the late afternoon. The Christian has been waiting for the first drop to hit the windowsill, on the patio, on the tomato, in the JoJo tank. The Christian has been waiting for the first thunder to roll over the suburb.

Then the night comes. The first lightning splits the sky. The first thunder rolls over Sandton, over Houghton, over Parkmore, over the older suburbs of Johannesburg. The first rain falls. The thunderstorm has come. The winter is over. The spring has finally arrived.

The Christian in Johannesburg has been waiting for the thunderstorm. The Christian in Johannesburg has been waiting for the rain. The Christian in Johannesburg has been waiting for the moment the dry, slow winter is broken by the loud release of the thunder. The Christian has been waiting for a moment that is also a Bible picture.

This post is for the Christian in Johannesburg or Sandton who has been waiting for the first thunder — who has been waiting for the moment when the long drought finally breaks, who has been wondering what the Bible actually says about the thunder, the lightning, the rain, and the God who is in all three.

What the Bible Actually Says About the Thunder

The Bible is full of thunder. The Bible begins with the Spirit hovering over the waters. The Bible ends with thunder from the throne. In between, there are many thunders. The Bible treats the thunder as one of the great voices of God.

Exodus 19:16-19 — On the morning of the third day there was thunder from the sky. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it with fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder.

1 Samuel 7:10 — As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were routed before Israel.

Job 37:2-5 — Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back. God's voice thunders in wonderful ways.

Psalm 29:3-9 — The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert.

John 12:28-29 — Father, glorify your name! Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd that was there heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said an angel had spoken to him.

Revelation 14:2 — And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder.

The Bible treats the thunder as the voice of God. The Bible treats the first thunderstorm of the Jobbing spring as a small picture of the voice of God. The Bible is clear. The thunder is real. The voice is real.

What the Bible Says About the Lightning

The lightning is the second voice of the thunderstorm. The first thunderstorm of October in Joburg is full of lightning. The lightning splits the sky. The lightning lights up the bedroom. The lightning makes the child sit up in bed.

Job 38:24-25 — What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited wasteland.

Psalm 18:14 — He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy with great lightning bolts of lightning, and routed them.

Matthew 24:27 — For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Luke 17:24 — For as lightning that flashes from one end of the sky to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.

The lightning is the second voice of the thunderstorm. The Bible treats the lightning as a sign of the coming of the Son of Man. The Bible is clear. The lightning is real. The coming is real.

What the Bible Says About the Rain

The rain is the third voice of the thunderstorm. The rain is the one that the JoJo has. The rain is the one that the gardener has. The rain is the one that the reservoir has.

Deuteronomy 11:11-13 — But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from the heavens. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end. So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today — to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul — then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains.

1 Kings 18:41-45 — Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain." So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And seven times the servant went up and reported, "There is nothing." The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." In a short time the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain came.

Psalm 147:8 — He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.

Matthew 5:45 — He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

James 5:7-8 — Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and the spring rains.

The rain is the third voice. The Bible treats the rain as a gift of God. The Bible is clear. The rain is real. The gift is real.

What the Christian in Joburg Has Started Doing With the First Thunderstorm

In the last three October first thunderstorms, the Sandton Wednesday evening Bible study has begun to think about the first thunder. We do not cancel the Bible study for the first thunder. We do not change the topic to the first thunder. We do, however, change three things.

We begin the Bible study that Wednesday with a moment of thanksgiving for the first rain. The Christian in Sandton in 2026 has had a first rain. The Christian in Sandton in 2026 has had a reservoir. The moment of thanksgiving is real. The rain is real.

We read one of the storm passages from the Bible. We have read Job 37. We have read Psalm 29. We have read 1 Kings 18. The Bible is real. The storm is real. The reading is real.

We pray, at the close of that week's Bible study, for the rain to come, for the reservoir to fill, for the water crisis to end. The prayer is real. The rain is real. The God is real.

What the Bible Says About the Fear of the Storm

The first thunderstorm in Joburg in October is also a fear. The child in the bedroom is afraid. The dog is afraid. The parent who has been through the Joburg hailstorm is afraid. The Bible is clear about the fear of the storm.

Psalm 46:1-3 — God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we are not afraid, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Isaiah 41:10 — So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Mark 4:39-40 — He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

The Christian in Joburg who has been afraid of the thunderstorm knows that the God of the storm is with her. The Christian knows that the God of the storm is with him. The Christian knows that the God of the storm is real.

What the Children Learn from the First Thunderstorm

The Christian in Sandton who has children is teaching the children about the first thunderstorm. The children are afraid. The children are excited. The children are asking. The children are asking where the thunder comes from. The children are asking where the lightning comes from. The children are asking where the rain comes from.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 — These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Proverbs 22:6 — Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

The Christian parent can teach the children about the thunderstorm. The parent can tell the children, The thunder is the voice of God. The lightning is the brightness of God. The rain is the gift of God. The teaching is honest. The thunder is real.

A Short Prayer for the First Thunderstorm

Father, you are the God of the thunder. You are the God of the lightning. You are the God of the rain. You are the God of the first thunderstorm. You are the God of the spring rain. We thank you for the first thunder. We thank you for the first rain. We thank you for the first reservoir. Help us to be faithful in the storm. Help us to teach the children about the storm. We ask this in the name of the one who stilled the storm, who said, "Quiet! Be still!" Amen.

An Invitation

If you are a Christian in Johannesburg or Sandton who has been waiting for the first thunderstorm, or who has been afraid of the first thunderstorm, or who has been wondering what the Bible says about the thunder, the lightning, the rain, the Wednesday evening Bible study in Sandton is open to you. The Bible study begins at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings. We meet at the Bible study room in Parkmore. The Bible is real. The thunder is real. The God is real.

If you are a Christian who is also a parent who has been afraid of the first thunderstorm with the children, or who is also a Christian from another suburb who has been through the hailstorm, the Bible study is open to you. The Bible is real. The friendship is real. The storm is real.