As stated before, I am not a meteorologist. I don’t know much about global warming, except for what is happening to our earth as we abuse her. I do know that God is in control of everything that happens in the world. He created every star, each galaxy and knows how many there are. I’m not too concerned about climate change, but when I hear the words, “El Nino,” my heart begins to race. It appears that we are in for an El Nino winter. which should change my region from the frozen tundra to the garden spot of America. It all has something to do with the temperature of the ocean. I’m wondering if I can wait until January to plant tulips?

Occasionally our weather does incomprehensible things to our landscape. Hurricanes, tornadoes, straight line winds all have an effect as they rush through the plains and forests, cutting through trees, brush and buildings. The rivers overflow with water causing major floods. Snow can debilitate our schools and places of business. Electricity and other sources of energy are temporarily cut off. In many cases, people are displaced, lose property and some lose their lives. Some folks wonder how a loving God could allow that to happen.

When we go through those trials concerning weather or natural disasters, it’s easy to blame God. It’s also easy to blame Him for our misfortune, our losses and His lack of intervention. We’re quick to turn our anger towards a God we can’t see but fail to see our own mistakes. There is no question that we’ve not been good stewards. We’ve exposed the earth to toxic fumes, dirty, water, huge waste dumps filled with things that won’t decompose or go back into the soil. We set giant windmills across the country to supply energy but fail to think about the birds and wildlife that suffer because of them. We complain about the forest fires that rage their way into our environment. At the same time, we are careless with matches and untended campfires. Instead of trusting that God knows what He’s doing when these storms come, we try to come up with our own way of adjusting things.

Isn’t that true in all our worldly problems and issues? We seem predisposed to trying to fix things by ourselves and forget about asking God for help. We lack the knowledge to fix things, because we created the things that change our environment. Our Creator is often called on as a last resort. I’m not trying to say we should sit back and simply let God fix everything. He certainly wants us to protect our environment, but we have yet to find a way to correct the problems we’ve created. To emphasize this, we can find God’s own words to us as he speaks to Job, who suffered complete loss of family, property, wealth, land, everything. Here’s just a portion of his discourse:

Job 38:4-18

 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.  Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

“Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?

 “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.

“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?  Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.

We are part of God’s creation. He placed mankind in charge of being good caretakers of his land and everything in it. We do have a responsibility. Our prayers and honor to God are vital. He doesn’t need our help, but He is reaching out to us to depend on Him and His mercy.