I Should Have Been A Weatherman

Hello Emmanuel,

I should have been a weatherman.

In a matter of 2.5 days, our forecast went from predicting 8.5 inches of snow to 6 inches of snow to 4 inches of snow to 2-3 inches of snow.  By itself, the art of predicting weather is no big deal.  However, I feel that predicting it so far ahead of time risks the onset of large scale panic.

And yet, wouldn’t it be cool to be a weatherman?  All eyes of the Cincinnati tri-state area would be fixated on you, listening to your every word that you repeat every other 5 minutes.  I think it an interesting dynamic that so many people place so much weight on what a person says it’s going to do outside 3 or 4 days from now.  Sometimes it is actually accurate… other times?

And don’t get me started on the tv.  So many words and radars and alerts scrolling across the screen, I can’t watch the zombies get annihilated or the CSI’s figure out the impossible.

I wonder if the whole weather-predicting phenomenon for us is a simple issue of wanting to have control of our lives.  How are we supposed to schedule our day if we don’t have control of the weather?  But you say we are getting 8.5 inches of snow 3 days from now?  Ok… cool… so now I can go and cancel my appointments… oh wait… you say we only got 2 inches?  I cancelled for nothing?  Not cool.

Let’s be reminded of how little control we have over our lives and learn how to be okay with it.  I can control what I say and what I do and how I react to what goes on around me, but I control very little else.  I can’t control how my body will age (though I can try and be as healthy as possible); I can’t control if a tree branch outside decides to land on my car; I can’t control what my neighbors think and do and say about me; I can’t control how other nations war (or not) with other nations; I can’t control the opinions of others; I can’t necessarily help it if someone is determined enough to hurt me; and I certainly can’t control--or often times even predict—the weather.

It’s scary to think how little control we have around us.  It’s a big reason why prayer can be so helpful.  Belief in a sovereign God who has a big plan regarding the state of the Universe helps me keep a semblance of sanity in my day.  It helps me keep an even keel and not make any decisions that are rash or overly harsh or not thought through.  I can’t say I never mess things up.  But I find that the decisions I regret are usually the ones I make too quickly…. And when I make decisions too quickly, it is often an attempt to gain some sort of control in some way.

I’m glad that, even though God gives us free will, God has a plan that trumps any control we think we have or don’t have.  The next time you feel troubled about the unknown (or the predicted weather), consider feeling glad instead.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe