The weather

Hosea 6:3 (ESV)

Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;

    his going out is sure as the dawn;

he will come to us as the showers,

    as the spring rains that water the earth.”

One of my hobbies is to follow the weather. I have one of those personal weather stations and like to follow the temperatures, wind speed and rain.  Today as I thought about weather it got me to thinking. 

Wherever you live, rain is a big deal.  If we have little rain or a lot of rain within the year, the weather makes a huge impact on us.  The weather conditions command our daily attention as we graph and chart the amount of rain. We have entire television stations dedicated to the weather around the world. When a natural weather disaster hits, all other news stops to report the extent of the damage. We pay a lot of attention to the weather as we depend on this information to plan our day.

There is nothing wrong with following the weather patterns, but Hosea is stating that as surely as we acknowledge the sun and rain coming, we need to acknowledge the coming of the Lord. Jesus rebuked the people for acknowledging the signs of the weather but not acknowledging the signs of the Lord. In Luke 12:54-56, Jesus said to the crowd: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, 'It's going to rain,' and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?"

Are we sensitive to His ways? Are we in tune with His will? Do we study His Word daily for direction and guidance in our day as much as we tune into the weather? Could Jesus rebuke us today for the same things? Even though the rain seems to be later than expected some years, we do get rain. We might think that Jesus is late in His coming too. But surely He will come. If we are not acknowledging Him, He may not acknowledge us. And even if Jesus doesn't come here during our life time, it is inevitable that we will go to Him some day.

Who do you worship? Who do you serve? Just by examining your need to know the weather in comparison to your need to know the Lord should shed some light on what your priorities are. When we acknowledge the Lord in everything, we are able to interpret His signs because we become sensitive to His ways over our own. We give so much attention to the weather but Jesus truly is the ultimate Weather Man, whether we acknowledge Him or not.

Dear Lord, we thank You for all that You do for us. Help us to always take the time to acknowledge You for all the things You do for us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

God uses the weather

Jeremiah 10:13 (ESV)

When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

    and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

He makes lightning for the rain,

    and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

Aberra Wata worked with Christian youth in the southern part of Ethiopia during the time of Communist rule from 1974 to1991. Imprisoned for his faith, Aberra remembers one particular guard: "He would put filthy words to the tunes we sang. One night he patted his revolver and promised, 'Tomorrow morning at this time you won't be in the land of the living.'

Just after midnight that evening a tremendous storm burst on the town and the prison. Huge hailstones fell, wrecking several roofs, including the one where the insulting guard was sleeping. He became terrified, pulled out his revolver, and shot at random into the darkness, using up all the bullets he had promised would finish us off the next day. One by one the roofs were taken off the commandant's house, and the offices of the chief judge, the administrator, and his deputy. The prisoners in cells three, four, and five got a soaking from the rain too. Those in cell one and were kept dry. There were a lot of wet and unhappy people in Yavello that night.

At nine o'clock the next morning, while expecting the cruel guard to fulfill his promise to shoot them, they observed a remarkable sight. That same guard was pushed into their cell, without his uniform, by the commandant, who was whipping him with his belt. Other people in the background were yelling, 'We told this man to leave the believers alone, but he refused, and so God has sent this terrible punishment on the town and prison. He deserves to be given some of his own medicine.'"

The Lord is lord of all and even controls the weather for His good purpose.

Dear Lord, thank You that even in the worst type of weather, You can use it to be glorified. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Weather is in God's Control.

Jeremiah 10:13 (NIV)

When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;

    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends lightning with the rain

    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

Aberra Wata worked with Christian youth in the southern part of Ethiopia during the time of Communist rule from 1974 to1991. Imprisoned for his faith, Aberra remembers one particular guard: "He would put filthy words to the tunes we sang. One night he patted his revolver and promised, 'Tomorrow morning at this time you won't be in the land of the living.'

Just after midnight that evening a tremendous storm burst on the town and the prison. Huge hailstones fell, wrecking several roofs, including the one where the insulting guard was sleeping. He became terrified, pulled out his revolver, and shot at random into the darkness, using up all the bullets he had promised would finish us off the next day. One by one the roofs were taken off the commandant's house, and the offices of the chief judge, the administrator, and his deputy. The prisoners in cells three, four, and five got a soaking from the rain too. We were in cell one and were kept dry. There were a lot of wet and unhappy people in Yavello that night.

At nine o'clock the next morning, while expecting the cruel guard to fulfill his promise to shoot us, we observed a remarkable sight. That same guard was pushed into our cell, without his uniform, by the commandant, who was whipping him with his belt. Other people in the background were yelling, 'We told this man to leave the believers alone, but he refused, and so God has sent this terrible punishment on the town and prison. He deserves to be given some of his own medicine.'"

The Lord is lord of all and even controls the weather for His good purpose.

Dear Lord, we thanks You that You are in control of the weather. We thank You that You can use it for Your good even when it seems to be so bad. Help us trust in You. Help us glorify You even in the storm. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.