It is a rare occasion when I hear anyone speak of Paul Bunyan and Babe. I thought of the mythical lumberjack and his blue ox early this morning as I listened to the thunder and felt it’s presence as it shook the house.

Mom used to attribute the fearsome nature of a thunderstorm to Paul’s anger, Babe’s stomping, or a sack of potatoes being dropped on the floor of the sky. When things calmed down, she might say: “Well Paul and Babe have made their peace.”

The calm after last night’s storm and the memory of Mom’s explanation, brought the word “reconciliation” to my mind. Paul spoke of this in 2 Corinthians 5: “God has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ; and he has made us agents of the reconciliation. God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to himself—not counting their sins against them—and has commissioned us with the message of reconciliation. We are now Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were appealing direct to you through us. As his personal representatives we say, ‘Make your peace with God.’ For God caused Christ, who himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made good with the goodness of God (Phillips Version).”

According to this verse, when we make peace with God, we become “agents” or “ambassadors” of God in the peace-making process. The first step in the process is to realize the source of our peace—“we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5).” The second step is to understand that God works through His children to get His message to the world.

There is no place in the verses above that even hint at the idea that we are secret agents with a coded message. Instead, we are to shout from the rooftops that Jesus became sin, so we could be made good.

Now here’s the best part: You are made “good with the goodness of God.” When God looks at you at, He doesn’t see a bruised peach or a smashed tomato. He sees His divine perfection at work in you. You are no mistake—you are His answer and agent to the world!

The bellowing thunder early this morning was not Paul Bunyan expressing his displeasure; it was the clap of Heaven, and God celebrating His creation. You may look into the mirror with blurry eyes and see the reflection of messy hair and a wrinkled face, but God sees the reflection of His Son in you.

You are God’s morning miracle, and you are good because of His goodness. He has a message to share and you are the agent through which He will speak peace to the world.