A Clear Warning

The hot summer that will not end along with near drought conditions has taken its toll on the grass in the pasture where the cows spend their days and night.   With the grass disappearing, it has become necessary to start feeding the winter hay earlier than would be preferred.  Starting early with the hay means running out of stockpiled hay before the grass is growing again in the Spring.  When the rain is short in the urban areas, the lawn suffers.  In the rural countryside where there is livestock and crops to grow, a lack of rain is more than just an inconvenience.  It can be devastating and life changing.

 

The creation around us is a marvelous thing to behold.  It is full of beauty and wonder.  But, there is also a certain unpredictability to it.  A blue sky day can turn into a dark night of terror during tornado season.  A drought can cause the loss of a crop and, in some cases, the loss of a farmer's livelihood.  The closer we live to the creation that is around us, the more we realize that tomorrow is not to be taken for granted.  An old saying which I heard as a boy still rings true:  "Don't count your chickens before they hatch." 

 

Sometimes we do.  We make our plans.  We know better, but still we do.  The Word speaks a clear warning to us as it says, "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and  making money.'  Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring.... Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.' "  (James 4:13-15)  Of course, we cannot live without thinking about or planning for tomorrow, but as we do, it is the mark of a wise person to do so knowing that tomorrow is dependent not upon the one doing the planning, but upon the Creator God who has brought all things into being, the Christ who holds all things together, and the Holy Spirit who moves and works midst the chaos of our lives.