Ed, my neighbor next door, isn't fun to be near the last while. Our non-stop wet weather has brought out the worst in Ed. He is as touchy as an aggravated skunk and porcupine all tied up in one grouchy mess.
Yesterday was a treat as it did not rain until four in the afternoon. We both got our lawns cut. Ed cut his lawn in about 20 minutes. I lovingly trimmed my lawn, clipped my hedges, cut back over zealous raspberry canes and was planting part of a flower bed when the rain chased me indoors.
Ed caught me going for mail and said critically, "You were out in your yard from ten in the morning until four in the afternoon, moving about as fast as a corpse. You sure make your lawn and garden work a big unnecessary production."
"You're right. I do savor the moments outside in my yard," I answered.
"Of course I'm right," snapped Ed. "I'm also right about your God too. Your God is never around when it's too wet or it's too dry. He's never around when the wind is ripping things apart or flattening crops. He isn't around either when it's so cold cattle freeze to death where they are standing. Your God is off twiddling his thumbs while the world is going to hell in a handbag. I'll bet your Bible doesn't comment on things going from bad to worse."
Ed sure isn't the first, nor will he be the last, to feel God isn't around when things keep going from bad to worse. It is easy to trust God when things are going well for us. It is much harder to trust him when things are going wrong and won't turn around. If we trust God only when things are going well for us, perhaps we are like a friend who deserts us when we are out of work and have no money to spend.
The Bible says in the book of Habakkuk: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength."
Bad weather, such as too much rain, may remind us we cannot control the rain and wind, heat, and cold. Does God have more control over how much we plant and harvest than we are willing to give him credit for? Bad weather is a test of our faith in our Sovereign God. It calls us to rejoice in him when all there is - is rain. Faith is not about seeing, but believing without seeing.
In a bunker near Cologne, some hunted men had hidden for a time during the Second World War. This inscription was on the wall: "I believe in the sun if it is not shining! I believe in God even if He is silent. I believe in His love even if it is hidden."
