Who's In Charge Here???

We've been experiencing a long spell of warm weather and, I must say, it has been welcome. Michigan isn't known for good weather so these last two weeks where the temps hovered between the mid 50's and upper 60's were wonderful. We've been watching winter approach from the west for the last two weeks. Seattle got blasted first and then the rest of Washington State. For several days we watched that state get pounded by several feet of snow as we walked around our block wearing short sleeved shirts (yes, Florida, we wear short sleeves in the 50's... and some of my shirts look like they date back that far).

The news puppies and weather weinies have been running around like Chicken Little on his third cup of expresso for the last several days calling out dire warnings about the end of the good weather and the approach of Armeggedon. Or, as we call it up here, "winter". Michigan met the warnings with a collective shrug. We know it's coming. We've seen it before. We'll see it again.

This morning I awoke... and found the planet was still here. Yes, it was coated with a layer of ice, but we didn't lose power, our neighbors hadn't started eating their young, and CEO's weren't on the corner selling used pencils. The only real damage we had was our flagpole. The pole had surrendered to the ice. It was broken in half and laying on the ground. My first job of the day was to get out there and rescue the flags. Rain and snow are predicted for most of the next week and we'll survive it no matter how scared the weather wussies on TV get.

I drive to Indianapolis tomorrow to begin a four day series of lessons on grace for the Green Valley congregation in Noblesville. They are a remarkable group and I love them dearly. Keep them in prayer for they are in some distress. Their wonderful minister, Jim Dillinger, and his wife, JoAn, are facing her pancreatic cancer with faith and fortitude, but it is a hard time for all. Her surgery is Tuesday and expected to take 9 hours. They would love to save her life but they would settle for prolonging it.

I'm all dressed up, ready for a funeral in an hour or so. My son's girlfriend's grandfather passed away after a long illness. I'm not doing the funeral as he was a Catholic. I'll stand, kneel, and sit with the rest of the congregants at St. Andrews Catholic Church and show my respect for the family (and a good family they are, too) and then go back out into the dark and cold day.

It would be easy to be depressed on these days when winter howls in, the sound of icy rain on the windows keeping us awake at night, and friends are facing funerals and surgery... but I'm not doing too bad with it. I find it helpful to have these days. They remind me that I am a creature, not the Creator. I am not in charge here.

I want to save the world, but running it and saving it aren't really my responsibility. My job is to reach out with the message and love of Christ and it is His job to take it from there. I am not in charge of weather or traffic or taxes... I am only in charge of my decisions, my actions. Even then, God is gracious. He knows that we are dust. Even concerning something as important as living in peace with everyone He tells us "IF it is possible, AND as much as it lies in you..." indicating that He understands that sometimes it isn't possible and sometimes it isn't possible for ME when it might be for you. He knows our limitations and loves us anyway.

There is great comfort in trusting God. I'm glad I am just a creature and not the Creator. I'm glad I am just a servant and not a master. While I don't understand what God is doing a lot of time -- including why He allows weather wackos to live -- I trust Him. He knows what's He's doing. I just need to make sure we're stocked up on hot chocolate.