To Encourage You

2 Samuel 18:6-8 “So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. The battle spread over the face of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.”

One of the things we hear a lot about these days is climate change.  To hear some talk about it, we’re all going to die soon because the earth is warming up.  We are told that climate change is the reason for increasing numbers of droughts and floods, hurricanes in the east, and forest fires out west.  Of course, not everyone believes this, thus it’s a topic of almost endless debate.   It all points to something I’ve thought about off and on – what if we all truly WERE at the whim of nature? What if we were at the complete and utter mercy of the climate? What if the rains never stopped and the winds blew twice as hard as they do now? What if the conditions that mark the deserts were to spread over all the earth?  What if it was all a matter of chance?  Shouldn’t we be terrified?  Shouldn’t we be in constant fear about what’s around the next bend?  Obviously, some people are. Just listen to the news.  

So how should the believer think about such things?  Are we all at the mercy of the rain, sun, and wind?  Thankfully, God has spoken to us clearly about such things. So, what kinds of things has He said? Well, for one, God has told us that He is the Creator.  The climate and all that comprises it were His idea.  It is the way that it is because He’s made it that way.  But we’ve also been told that it’s all been affected very negatively by man’s sin.  We are told about this very early in the Bible where we are told that the very ground was cursed because of Adam and Eve’s rebellion (Genesis 3:17). Then in Romans 8:19-22 we are told that “the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”  

One of the ways we see this connection is in man’s poor stewardship of the earth.  From the beginning, God ordained that man have “dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28).  But we’ve done a pretty poor job of it.  If you don’t think so, just drive around Pennsylvania and see the streams that are running red and are devoid of life because of acid mine drainage.  Or consider the passenger pigeon that once numbered in the millions as well as hundreds of other living things that have been slaughtered by man to the point that there are no longer ANY left.  Yet, in all of this, God is in ultimate control, for haven’t we been told that “even the wind and the sea obey him” (Matthew 8:27)?  

We have Scripture passages about how God parted both the Red Sea and the Jordan River.  Likewise, we have passages like that above from 2 Samuel 18 that tell us about how even the forests fought for God, in a sense, bringing destruction on Absalom’s army as they fought against his own father, who was God’s anointed king.  You see, all creation is under the ultimate control of our Creator.  Another wonderful passage that points to this is Job 38 – 41. Here God asks Job such things as “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth? . . . Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion? Can you lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’?”  

You see, we have a God who is in control of such things.  We aren’t at the whim of the wind. The sun isn’t going to kill all of us, for we have a gracious God who rules over all.  It is this God Who has told us in His Word that, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat” (Psalm 19:1-6).  

So, do you know this God Whom even the wind and the waves obey? Would you dare to disobey one with such power?  If so, you should know that, in His great mercy “he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).  We have such a powerful and glorious God! He has the power to both give life and to take it, as Jesus warned with the following words: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).  Yes, it is this God Who in omnipotence rules over everything, and yet He patiently waits for those Who think they can live without Him to turn to Him and repent.