I Samuel 7:10 says: “The Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel.”
There are times in scripture when it seems that God does enough of a miracle so that those who will believe in Him will do so – but also leaves just enough room for doubt so that someone who does NOT want to believe may explain it another way if they are so inclined to. This episode is an example of that.

The Philistines were coming to battle Israel and God “thundered with a great thunder against (them)” the text tells us. The Bible records it as the hand of God working for His people. But a skeptic might protest, “It doesn’t prove it was a miracle; it could have just been a coincidence that it thundered right at the time of battle.” Those who believe will see it as God’s handiwork. But those who are not inclined to believe will choose to see it otherwise.

This episode is similar in that way to one in the New Testament, in John 12. Jesus had just prayed before a multitude, “Father, glorify Thy name.” “Then a voice came out of heaven: ‘I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.’” (:28) What is interesting is the response of the multitude. Some obviously heard what God said. “Others were saying, ‘an angel has spoken to Him.’” But others were saying “it had thundered.” (:29) All the people heard the same thing; some attributed it to God, others said that it was just thunder.

Thus we see that our response to the works of God reveals our hearts. We human beings are not nearly as “objective” as we would like to think we are. If we are inclined to believe in God, we will see His hand in a variety of situations, and credit Him for it. But if we are disinclined to believe, there is usually some other explanation which will suffice, be it “thunder” or whatever. And it seems to be in the plan of God that He often shows just enough of Himself for some to believe – but often also leaves His work just ambiguous enough that those who would prefer to doubt can find another explanation if they so will.

This is not limited to instances in scripture; we see the same thing in countless modern experiences as well. If a Christian goes to the doctor with a serious illness, and through prayer and treatment they recover, the Christian and those who are praying see God’s hand in it and give Him thanks. But those who would prefer to doubt will assert that God had nothing to do with it; it was just the medication. Again, God did enough for His people to give Him thanks, but also left it open for those who want to say, “it just thundered” to ignore Him if they will!

In the end, our response to what we see happening around us is more than an objective observation about certain events. It is more like a judgment which reveals something important about US – whether we will choose to believe or not. Will we explain everything away as “just thunder”, or by faith see the working of the hand of God?