~By Sharon Czerwien
The majority of the country had a weather doozy right before Christmas! I hope that you Bumps are Okay readers were safe and made it quickly through any adverse weather.
I wrote the majority of this blog post before I knew how widespread the winter weather would be in America.
The images from Buffalo, NY, were hard to see; so I mean no disrespect to those who experienced horrendous weather conditions. I merely wrote this post as we were gearing up for our own weather and how the idea of different weather models made for a good spiritual analogy.
I typed the following as my family geared up for the winter weather in our neck of the woods:
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Our city recently had divergent weather forecasts. A week (or so) before a possible winter weather event, the local meteorologists from several news stations had differing opinions about the possibility of winter accumulation (ice storms…not the fun stuff!). Plus, they were all talking about the different weather models. What were the viewers supposed to believe?
Personally, if I had to forecast the weather for a living, I would become paranoid if I was the one meteorologist (or at least part of the only area weather team) who gave an extended forecast that was quite a bit different from the other stations.
In our local area, there was one news station that was much more adamant about the potential for bad weather much sooner than the other stations. I began rooting for this weather team, too. They were forecasting more intense winter weather before all the others. Such bravery, I thought!
Either way, my family had to make a choice about how to prepare for the proposed big weather event.
Thankfully, as time got closer and closer, there was more agreement between all the forecasts and news stations. (It did not start that way, though!)
A Bible Look…
I had a professor in Bible College (Dr. James Sewell) who used to say:
What does the Bible say!?
He clearly taught us that when it came to the Word of God, the Bible took precedence and was the authority in life.
Ummmm, okay, you may be thinking…back to the weather talk???
The weather forecast can be all over the place, right! There is not universal agreement between meteorologists regarding the weather—even if they studied the same weather textbooks in college or looked at similar weather models. What and whom to trust, right???
When it comes down to how to traverse this world in a way that pleases God, though, we can be sure that we have a guide to grasp with total confidence.
Check out these ideas in Psalms 19. (The terms law, testimony, and statutes, are referring to the Word of God.)
-The law of the LORD is perfect (19:7).
-The testimony of the LORD is sure (19:7).
-The statutes of the LORD are right (19:8).
Refreshing! God’s Word is perfect, sure, and right! EVERY TIME!
The Point???
There is certainly nothing wrong with watching your local weather team! I faithfully look at the weather forecast from my phone. The point is that there is no perfectly accurate weather team, and that’s okay.
On the other hand, we can have spiritual surety (consider Psalm 19 from above).
Check out the following ideas from Psalm 119. This chapter is jam-packed with verses about the Word of God. Here are a couple of encouraging verses:
-I have chosen the way of truth…I cling to your testimonies (119:30a, 31a).
-My heart stands in awe of Your word. I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure. (119:161b-162).
-My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly (119:167).
An ideal response to a perfect Word of God is to follow God’s way and view His words as a treasure.
When life is hard and does not make sense (or if a terrible winter storm expectedly or unexpectedly strikes), we can bank of the fact that God’s Word will provide insight on how to respond well, even when life gets bumpy!
If you’d like, check out a few of my previous blog posts that deal with this concept of responding in faith to the bumps in life.
Bumps Galore! was my first blog post, written just over 2 years ago. https://www.bumpsareokay.com/post/bumps-galore
What Not to Fight Against in the New Year was (re)posted about one year ago.
~Bundle up. Enjoy your winter,
Sharon
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Oh, and if you are wondering…the first weather team was RIGHT!
Placing our confidence in what is perfect, sure, and right…every time!