Who is warning us? And will we listen?
Sitting here next to the window in our living room, I'm looking out at a smoke covered sky and a cooler than normal July day. In fact, our month of May and July seem to have gotten confused and switched places with each other. What is normally a cooler month for us, May ended up with over eight days reaching 80+°. That may not seem like a big deal to many of you😃, but it was actually not good for us.
You see, we have a small u-pick strawberry business and strawberries prefer cooler temperatures to grow and then ripen as the temperatures warm. The warmer weather also affects pollination, and so the warmer days were a double whammy. We got far fewer berries, and the ones we did get were about half the size they should have been.
Now, I will be the first to admit that after a northern Minnesota winter, it's hard to complain about an unusually warm spring😏, but it was disappointing for the strawberries.
As we look at July, we're over halfway through the month, and we have only had three days in the 80s and as many in the 60s. One of the most pleasant Julys I can ever remember, but still, out of the normal. Add to that the frequent air quality alerts because of the smoke cover from the Canadian fires, and you can definitely begin to wonder what's going on. Of course, if odd weather was simply hitting northern Minnesota, I'd say that since we've moved here, we've come to believe that "normal" weather is whatever it happens to be doing at the moment. It certainly fluctuates more than it did in Pennsylvania. However, you can't look at the news or even your newsfeed on social media these days without numerous mentions of weather anomalies. In fact, these are just a few of the headlines that popped up on my laptop today:
Relentless heat wave shatters records across US with no end in sight --ABC News
Canada is living through a record-breaking fire season
--The Daily Digest
Scientists Warn Earth Experiencing Worldwide Record Heat Wave --Money Talks News
Millions Are Under Air-Quality Alerts Again as Canada Deploys Troops to Fight Wildfires --The Wall Street Journal
Storms to cause significant flight cancellations across the US on July 18 --AccuWeather
Extreme heat, rain, cause destruction worldwide
--The Associated Press
Second heat wave in as many weeks grips Mediterranean while fires hit Spain, Switzerland and Greece
--The Associated Press
This Global Heatwave Has Everyone Asking
The Same Question --The Huffington Post
In fact, new articles keep popping up faster than I can copy and paste these, so why my sudden fascination with the weather? Well, this morning I read two conflicting ideas about what might be causing the strange patterns we are seeing.
I was reading the book of Haggai in the Bible this morning. Haggai was an Old Testament prophet who God sent to warn the people of Israel who had returned from captivity in Babylon. The people had returned and rebuilt their homes but had failed to complete rebuilding God's house, the temple. Several times God tells the people to "consider your ways." The word "consider" comes from two words which convey the idea of thinking through seriously or carefully analyzing something. He explained how they had farmed much but harvested little. They had worked hard for their wages but had little to show for it (like putting it in a pocket with holes in it). They prepared much but it was blown away. God tells them He is the one who had sent the droughts not only of their crops but of their men, their livestock, and their productivity. (Haggai 1:6-11)
It seems a little harsh at first glance, but God had directed them to rebuild the temple so that their worship could be restored as they returned from years in captivity. They had begun to obey but got distracted with their own pursuits. They had said, "The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built." (Haggai 1:2) What they were saying in essence is that "there's no rush. Besides, I'm swamped with my own life. God's work can wait until it's convenient for me to get involved." God then challenges them and asks, "Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie in waste?" (Haggai 1:3-4) Ceiled houses refer to ceilings that were paneled with expensive woods. So, they were not putting up temporary shelters to protect their families while they worked on the temple. They were building luxurious homes for themselves and letting God's dwelling place among them lie in ruins. The God who had sustained them even in their captivity. The God who had returned them to their ancestral lands. The God who had blessed them with the means to furnish their homes.
Because they had not listened to His instruction, He tells them through Haggai that He had sent the weather anomalies and economic struggles they were experiencing. His love for them prompted Him to get their attention before they rejected Him completely and then faced greater judgement.
When I finished reading, I opened my laptop and the news suggestion that greeted me was an opinion piece by Rex Huppke in USA Today entitled:
A letter from Earth: I'm giving you record temperatures and wild floods. TAKE A HINT!!
Because of what I had just finished reading, that title caught my eye. The author goes on to write a letter to us humans from earth explaining how our actions have forced it to send all these crazy weather events we are seeing in the news, from wildfires to droughts and flooding to massive ice chunks breaking off polar ice packs. The "letter" goes on to say that maybe earth is trying to tell us something, and that earth doesn't know many other ways to get our attention so we will change our behavior. The letter ends claiming the earth is running out of patience. Earth then demands a little respect from us and warns we are running out of time to make things right. And don't be surprised when something catastrophic happens because earth is just going to turn on us and say, "I told you so."
Wow, sound familiar? The author, although not realizing it, practically quoted parts of Haggai. Of course, he is blaming humans for global warming and the record-breaking weather events we are seeing. He claims that the earth is sending these events as a warning to us to wake up and change our ways, or it will have to do something even more drastic. Just as God told the people of Haggai's day that He had sent the changes in the weather to get their attention, apparently earth is claiming to be doing the same thing according to this author.
While I do not intend to get into the whole global warming/save the earth debate, I will say that I believe God does expect us to be responsible with what He has given us. However, neither do I worship creation rather than the creator as Romans chapter one talks about. I believe that God, who created this earth, is more than capable to sustain it despite man's neglect if that is His will.
What I am drawn to is the fact that Scripture tells us in Romans chapter 8 that creation (the earth) groans and travails like a woman in labor because of the curse of sin. It explains that the earth was not responsible for man's sin, but still bears the weight of it and waits for the day it will be restored to the perfection it was created in. Now, one thing I do understand is travailing like a woman in labor. Been there, done that. Ten times, actually. So, one thing that is true with "travailing" is that it generally starts out slow and mild and then grows in frequency and intensity until that final pain brings forth the greatest miracle you can imagine, and the pain is forgotten because of the great joy of the new life you hold in your arms.
Mankind has been irresponsible in many of the ways we have handled the earth, but even greater than global warming is the burden of sin the earth bears. The earth was created to support man in a perfect environment. The sin of mankind has put a strain on the earth. It groans for the day it will be restored and the weight of sin lifted from it. Read the description of the Millenium to get an idea of what the earth waits for! If that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what will. It will be amazing. But for now, the birth pains are intensifying. We are getting closer than ever before to that final pain when God will right all wrongs and restore beauty, joy, and peace to the earth.
So, I believe God is trying to get our attention. Mankind as a whole has rejected His Word. We have pushed the Sovereign King of all eternity out of our lives. And still, His love causes Him to offer yet another plea for us to wake up from our indifference and rebellion and seek Him before it's too late.
Friend, if you are reading the news, you cannot be blind to the fact that we live in perilous times. Strange weather, economic fears, political unrest, violence, disease, wars, and rampant evil. Rather than fear, take hope. God told us these days would come so we wouldn't be blindsided by them. Instead, use what you are seeing to be sure you are ready for the rest of the story. God has promised to bring His children home before those last few pains wrack the earth like nothing ever known before. Won't you be sure you belong to Him before that day comes? He loved us enough to give us a way to escape. He sent His own perfect Son to pay sin's price. There are people who say we should pay for the damage we have done to the earth. In some respects, they are right. We will pay for the damages of sin unless we accept the payment Christ has already made for us. His death covered our debt of sin.
If you already know Christ as your Saviour, take heart. His Word has never failed. He is the God who cannot lie (Numbers 23:19). He told us these things would come to pass, and now we are beginning to see them happening. We don't know how long the travail will last, but we can be confident that He has prepared a better place for us because He also told us He would come again and take us to be with Him (John 14:28, I Thessalonians 4:13-18). He shows us many of the wonderful things that await us throughout Scripture. In fact, in I Corinthians, the Apostle Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah and tells us that there is so much more that God has prepared for us than our feeble human minds can even begin to imagine (Isaiah 64:4). So don't lose hope. We have the promise of a much better day coming soon!
Thankfully, the people of Haggai's day heeded God's message. Will we do the same?
Comments
Post a Comment