March 29, 2021
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So we watched the Weather Channel on TV, and we changed our plans. A big storm was coming, faster than originally anticipated, so we took off almost immediately to avoid getting seriously delayed or, you know, driving on dangerous roads. It was just one of those countless times when the weather changed our plans. Like the numerous times that storms have delayed or cancelled airplane flights I was on. And, because I travel a lot, I'm a faithful viewer of the Weather Channel. It's really something to watch the weather form and move across the country, and even across the world, and to watch how often it surprises all of us, including the weatherman sometimes. Of course, these aren't random developments we're watching unfold on that map. No, not for those of us who belong to the Lord of the weather.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Weather Channel's Executive Producer."
Over the years, I've been frustrated by the weather, delayed by the weather, cancelled by the weather, held back by the weather. But increasingly, I'm learning to be amazed by the weather. Actually, to be amazed by the One who makes the weather.
Recently, I read these awe-inspiring verses from Job 37, beginning with verse 5. They reveal the ways that we can see and celebrate the power and majesty of our God by just looking at the weather, and they're our word for today from the Word of God. Listen to this, "God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; He does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.' So that all men He has made may know His work, He stops every man from His labor." Boy, is that true! We've all got our big schedules - our plans. And then God intervenes with something we have absolutely no control over - the weather. It's a powerful reminder that we are not in charge and God is.
Job goes on: "The tempest goes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds. The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. He loads the clouds with moisture; He scatters His lightning through them. At His direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever He commands them." Wow! Man! The winds, the fronts, the storms, the clouds - they're doing what God tells them to do! I'm reminded of the prophet Nahum's observation that the Lord has "His way in the whirlwind and the storm" (Nahum 1:3).
So when we're watching the weather on TV, we're watching the hand of God. He's making weather that will accomplish His purposes, to change plans, to direct our lives, to get people's attention, to chastise where necessary, sometimes to call people home to Him, to protect us from making mistakes. He's doing the same thing with the changing weather of your life: the unexpected storms, the sunshine in your life, the foggy times, the cold seasons in your life, the warm seasons. God reaches into His weather tool kit and He pulls out whatever system will turn us to Him that will line us up with His plans, or remind us of who's really in charge here.
Watching the weather forecast ought to be an experience of praise and worship for the child of God. In a sense, the Weather Channel becomes the "Worship Channel" for seeing God at work. That is your all-wise, all-loving, all-powerful Heavenly Father, reminding the world that He is in control. No government is, no billionaire is, no power broker is, God is in control. And don't be surprised if He uses the weather to blow you right into His arms!