Thought for Today
Genesis 8:22 As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."
Proverbs 25:13 Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest are faithful messengers to those who send them; they refresh the spirit of their masters.
John 18:18 Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.
Acts 28:2 The natives showed us unusual kindness. Since it had begun to rain and was cold, they kindled a fire and welcomed all of us around it.
The cold associated with the impending storm has already arrived. The weather station on our front porch read 1oF this morning. I have a second weather station by our patio in back. The field behind our home is about 10ft. lower than the front of the house. That station read a ‘sweltering’ 4oF this morning. It’s much (?) warmer now, several hours later, 3oF. On the news last night, the meteorologist’s map indicated that even our friends and family in Houston would only see a high temperature tomorrow of 21oF, although my smartphone app tells me it will only be 39oF.
The news today on the television and in the newspaper is focused on this massive, severe storm. Appropriately so. Here in New England we are being reminded that finishing second in the AFC was not so bad a thing, since temperatures tomorrow at game time in Denver will be higher than they will be in Foxborough, MA. This storm has knocked the stories about ICE and Greenland off the front page. Of course, so far, no one has yet tried to blame the storm or its intensity on either side of our political divide or on geopolitics. So far!
All of this hullabaloo does remind me of a movie. “The Day After Tomorrow is a 2004 American science fiction disaster film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Roland Emmerich, based on the 1999 book The Coming Global Superstorm by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber, and starring Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sela Ward, Emmy Rossum, and Ian Holm. It depicts catastrophic climatic effects following the disruption of the North Atlantic Ocean circulation, in which a series of extreme weather events usher in climate change and lead to a new ice age.” (en.wikipedia.org) It is an interesting movie with a Houston connection. Dennis Quade and his brother both attended Bellaire High School in Houston. I do not recommend watching the movie until after this storm.
I did, however, begin to wonder this morning about cold weather and snow in the Bible. Both words are mentioned in the Bible, although neither appears more than 24 times. Have you ever wondered whether Jesus even saw snow? Certainly, Jesus would never have skied or sledded. For what it’s worth, neither Greta nor I ever skied or sledded as children. In all the years we lived in Houston, we only saw snow accumulate and stick on the ground 5 times. The record in those years was 4”.
“Snow in Israel is uncommon, but it occurs in higher elevations; including the northern part of the country and in Jerusalem District. In January and February 1950, Jerusalem experienced the largest snowfall recorded since the beginning of meteorological measurements in 1870. No accumulation of snow has occurred in the Israeli Mediterranean coastal plain and the Dead Sea area since the 1950 snowfalls. Snow is unknown in the vicinity of Eilat, in the southernmost Negev.” (en.wikipedia.org)
In that verse above from John, Peter is warming himself around a fire while Jesus is being tried. Most Christians are familiar with the incident and Peter’s thrice denying even knowing Jesus. Otherwise, cold and snow do not play major roles in scripture.
We are assured, however, that weather phenomena are an integral part of God’s Creation and God’s plan. And, we are assured that as long as the planet remains, we will have weather.
In college, I learned about the mechanisms of heat transfer, about the jet stream and the ocean currents. I learned to think of them as heat transfer mechanisms for our planet. All of that aside, science fiction movies aside, I find comfort in the eternal cycles of the seasons. I kind comfort in “Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven,” God has a plan. I just need to remind myself of that as I clear the driveway of all the snow that is coming.
Stay safe, enjoy the snow, trust God,
Pastor Ray