Today is Thursday, the day before the Big Snow. According to all the weather folks for the past several days, a big snow storm is due to come our way here in Kansas and points south and east. Some areas farther south will experience, they say, extreme ice storms. And the cold…on Saturday, they are forecasting a high of six degrees for Wichita…that’s six…just one digit. Sunday won’t be much better with a forecast high of 11.
Now, that could all change. We’ve seen it happen before. Movement of just forty or fifty miles either
north or south by the system low pressure center can make a big difference in
how much snow or ice comes our way. So,
even though the forecasts are not always on point a couple of days before the
event, we are taking precautions. We’re
discussing not holding services Sunday.
We’re working with the snow removal people. We’re setting thermostats so things don’t
freeze up in the building.
And we’re also taking some precautions
personally. Filling gas tanks. Planning ahead. We aren’t stocking up on tons of water,
toilet paper, or food. We have enough
normally at the house for what we will need.
The wife is doing her regular weekly grocery shopping today, and I
expect she’ll pick up the usual assortment of things.
I did purchase a new snow shovel
yesterday, but only because the old one is indeed old, and the plastic is
cracked and broken to the point that it doesn’t work very well anymore. I’ve been intending to get one for the past
several months, and have just put it off.
We have bird seed for our winter feathered friends sufficient to weather
the storm. We don’t have any place we
have to be or go, so we should be OK.
I also know that from time to time I
will be thinking of some of those I know who are spending their time outdoors
in the cold. I’m hopeful they will seek
shelter at the Second Light facility in downtown Wichita. However, many have mental health issues that
prevent them from wanting shelter, or they have behavior issues that keep them
out. They are still people. They are still human beings. They still are made in the image of God. We do what we can. But sometimes what we can do isn’t enough. People still become ill. People still die. It’s something that we sometimes have to
admit that we should do what we reasonably can do and let the rest…those
things, circumstances, and situations that we can’t control…go.
That works for several areas of life
and living. All too often, it seems, we
try to control the outcome of something so it ends up the way we want it to
end. We become increasingly frustrated,
stressed, and upset as things continue down the path we have NOT selected. We seem to be powerless to switch the track,
so to speak, to make things turn out our way.
The advice to do what we reasonably
can do and give the rest to God is good advice.
We don’t know the long term. We
don’t know what’s at the end of the track.
We don’t know what God has planned and is carrying out.
Think of the story of Joseph in the
Old Testament. Hated by his older
brothers, thrown down an old dry well in the desert by them…brought out of that
pit and sold by his brothers to an Egyptian to be made a slave. Later he was imprisoned for something he did
not do. Eventually, though, Joseph’s
life was one that saved his entire family and the nation of Israel from a great
famine and brought them into the land of Egypt to live. Joseph’s message to his family at the end of
it all was, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to
accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
Sometimes, we need to be taught the
lesson that God is indeed in charge. We should
do what we reasonably can, but we need to recognize that God ultimately controls
the outcome. And sometimes, I believe
God intentionally paints us into a corner in order to get that lesson across to
us AND to show us His awesome power, mercy, and work.
Whatever demons you’re fighting right
now, do what you reasonably can do…then pray…pray for God’s will to be
done. And let it go and let God.
Blessings
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