Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Winter Fury 2015: Climate Change We Can Believe In!


First, I must confess that this isn’t a rant against supposed global warming or a tirade against current political grudge matches.  I’m not about to launch into scientific debate or dialogue and attempt to offer persuasion for a partisan line of thought.  This is simply a moment of reflection during the “wasted time” piling up while freezing weather slows an already admittedly slower-paced, Southern lifestyle to a crawling stop.

Second, I did pick the title of this post with specific purpose…

The “climate” of modern living is increasingly hurried and heated, busy and overwhelming.  Schedules are so filled that even in our “rest” we’re fielding phone calls, answering e-mails, texting plans for more schedules, and catching up on the other things we didn’t get to earlier.  The climate of modern living says, “Unless you’re doing something, nothing’s getting done.”   The climate of modern living doesn’t have time for delays, much less a snow day or two.  And increasingly, the climate of modern living relegates working on relationships to the “whatever time I have left over” column of our planners.  No wonder so many are uncomfortable in modern life… the thermostat is set on full blast!  We’re caught in a cycle of perpetual motion fueled almost solely by momentum and habit.

Welcome to God’s grace filled opportunity to change the climate of your living!  

In the 46th Psalm we find this instruction, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”   (v. 10, NKJV)

I’m not saying that God is creating massive amounts ice and snow to teach us a lesson; just that God will allow us to learn a lesson or two in the midst of them.  One of the effects of this wintry blast of blah is that we are in some ways forced to slow down… to be still.  We are forced to spend time in ways that we aren’t used to spending it.  We’re given the opportunity to slow down and take a look around us at our lives and families, our relationships, or health.  We’re confronted with our definition of accomplishment, and what measures success, when we find that the momentum that propelled us before is no longer there.

Verses 7-9 of the same Psalm serve as a reminder of God’s nature and issue an invitation to witness the splendor and power of that nature before we hear the instruction to be still:  

         7  The Lord of hosts is with us;
          The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
         8  Come, behold the works of the Lord
          Who has made desolations in the earth.
         9  He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
          He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; 
          He burns the chariot in the fire.

When inertia is removed, or our “habitual rituals” are interrupted, we are given the chance to behold the enormity of the world we tend to drive past on cruise control.  We can look up from our “offensive-driving” postures with our hands placed firmly at 10 & 2, and recognize that there is more to experience than what we have settled for.

If we will use the gift of down time caused by the storms to pay attention, we will realize that the reason we can take comfort in the thought that God is with us is this: 


The same God who has made desolations in the earth, who topples mountains and scatters darkness with His Holy light, is OUR refuge!



All of that power, all of that wisdom, all of that creative intellect, all of that DIVINE presence is not only with us, it surrounds us and hedges us into a sanctuary and safe haven contained within God’s own Tabernacle.  That reminder is STAGGERING to me.  And I sometimes get so busy, even doing work for the Kingdom, that I forget to just drink that in… 

Now be honest... when was the last time you had enough time to read a long winded pastor’s blog, much less spend time in thought about the relationship God wants to have with us?  How long since you contemplated what you want your relationship to be with Him?  Now take a moment to think about why you’ve had the time to do it now.  You were helped to be still by all the mighty and fearful works of the Lord you are now beholding! 


Instead of cursing the weather, or the immobility, maybe we can use this time productively and let God effect changes in the climates of our living.  Spend time in prayer.  Dust off the Bibles we’ve been meaning to read more often.  Share conversations with your family (husbands, wives, children, parents), letting them know what a blessing they are to you, especially if you haven’t said it in a while.  Enjoy time in your refuge!  And remember that even as nations rage, and our jobs are demanding attention, and our schedules are on seeming overload; God, the Lord of hosts, is with us.  He speaks into our very souls saying, "With the utterance of My voice, the earth shall melt.  Until then, remember to take rest in Me.”  

Now that's climate change WORTH believing in.


Love in Christ always,

Chris 


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