In light of recent local weather – the wind and the severe storms, I’ve been thinking about perspective on who is in control and why that matters.
As a kid, I would be so scared when storms would come. When I was at my parents’ house when I was in elementary school, I would stay in the living room with my parents and I remember shaking and crying. We lived in a location that I don’t think has ever been hit by a tornado. The wind would scare me, and I was afraid the tree next to the house would fall down. I’d see and hear the reports on the news about the tornadoes and my parents were as calm as could be. A few times we went to our basement, but not many times.
After elementary school, we moved further into the city and closer to my school. I wasn’t as scared, but the anxiety about storms was still there and I would stay close to my parents or not, because my dad would go outside in his robe and look at the sky or watch it rain and I would stay inside yelling at him to get back in before he was struck by lightning (he never was).
On the other hand, all the way up through high school, when I was at my grandma’s house and a storm came, I would most likely be found in the hall closet where there were no exterior walls. That was it, and a couple times I even wore a helmet.
I’ve only been in the closet a few times since and that was purely out of caution per the meteorologists and not because of pure fear.
Somewhere along the way though, I stopped being as afraid – whether it was what I grew out of or it was a perspective change.
When I was little, I thought the weather people were so smart to predict the weather, but also that somehow they controlled the weather. People joke about telling the weather people to make a good forecast or give us this or that. I think that’s why I was partially scared because if they say there’s a tornado coming your way, doesn’t that mean it’s coming your way?
The older I got, the more I found that they were wrong. The weather has patterns, but its not 100% predictable. They don’t control the weather itself. A meteorologist studies and makes their best educated guess based on factors they can calculate and observe.
At the end of each day, God is the one in control. (Remember when Jesus calmed the wind and waves in the boat? Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25; John 6:16-21)
To this day, my grandma will comment about the weather as if Travis Meyer can control the weather and I’ll say, “Grandma, he doesn’t control the weather. They’re literally trying to predict what God will do.”
Occasionally, a bout of anxiousness over storms get to me. Am I ready if the worst happened? Do I have things nearby? If storms are predicted (which, thank God that they have that capability, right?), I try to be home and not out and about.
The weather is a visible reminder of the power God has. The wind that we can’t see, but feel, is a common metaphor when talking about Him. We don’t see Him, but we know He’s there because of how things move when He touches them.
Even though God may not send the waves away from us or the tornado in the opposite direction, we can rest in knowing that the destruction isn’t the end destination, and He has good things in store for our lives.
Has your perspective on God’s sovereignty been changed by the weather?
How have you seen God visible through a weather event?
What encouragement do you draw from God’s control over the weather?
While so many states in the United States have been dealing with all kinds of disasters, mostly our southern brothers and sisters dealing with the aftermath of multiple hurricanes, other states like Oklahoma are dealing with high winds and drought conditions causing wildfires to spark and spread ~ then we get dumped on and start dealing with flooding. One extreme or the other. Remember to pray for those effected by all of the natural disasters and that God would be their refuge.
Because I can’t go so many blog posts without throwing songs around… here’s some that I enjoy that talk about the weather or Oklahoma.
Out of Oklahoma by Lainey Wilson
Strong Enough to Save by Tenth Avenue North
Desert Song by Brooke Ligertwood
Waiting One a Blue Sky by JP Cooper
Blown Away by Carrie Underwood
Thunder Rolls by Garth Brooks
Have You Ever Seen the Rain? by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Dust in the Wind by Kansas
Not Your Season: Summer's Blog 