Whew! It's hot!

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one end of heaven, And its circuit to the other end; And there is nothing hidden from its heat. Psalm 19:1-6

We are in the throes of a horrible heat wave. Actually, it’s really not all that bad. Even though there are many people who are at particular risk, for most of us, our struggles are minimal. I’m writing from my air conditioned home and like a lot of other people, there are plenty of cool places that we can go for relief, even when we go out. But, in our area, it is the big news item for this week and it is really hot!

Actually, the forecasters have amused me. For the last three days they have predicted that the temperatures would go to 100 degrees and each day it has not made it. I can tell that they are a bit disappointed. I get the feeling while listening to them that they are pushing for the numbers to go “above the century mark”, as they put it. So far, by the time early evening comes, it has fallen short and then they come on and say, “We didn’t quite make it today, etc.” That’s because they really are not the ones who call the shots are they? The number of degrees we reach, the percentage of humidity, whether it rains, thunders, or freezes and snows is not up to them. They can try and determine what it will do, but they can’t do it. It is all at the bidding of One much higher. We all know Who that is, even if we don’t want to admit it. Yes, it is our God who controls “the numbers” along with everything else.

So, the heat index and chill factor and everything in between is governed by Him. It all goes as He commands. This past Sunday, a wonderful sermon was preached at our church. It was about God. You’re probably saying to yourself, “I thought all sermons were about God.” Well, yes, that’s true, or at least it should be. But sometimes good preachers talk more about people and what they should or should not do to please God. And it is important for them to do that. Or sometimes they talk about specific incidents that are recorded in the Bible. That’s good too. But this past Lord’s Day, Pastor Dale brought the greatness of God Himself before us in wonder and praise. One of the primary points that he made, and which I hope to remember, is that all that we can ever know proceeded from God and all things begin with Him and work down. An awesome, awesome thought. And that includes all that is related to nature, including our weather.

And that includes my grandchild in the womb. This coming Saturday, her mother will have completed 34 weeks of pregnancy. That means in reality Selena is almost 34 weeks in existence. But we’ll start counting her days after she arrives and, of course, we’ll be praying that God will bring her here safely. There is a sense in which she, like the heat of the sun, will be doing what He commands whenever she does come. And it will be His timing.

The fourth catechism question asks the child how he or she can glorify God. The answer to that one is both simple and profound: By loving Him and doing what He commands. Well, as I’ve been saying, she already is doing what He commands, isn’t she? Just the fact that every day she’s adding this and that to her being (as I talked about on a prior entry) is at His command. And as I said earlier here,
whenever He wills her arrival, that too is at His command.

But our hope and prayer is that after her arrival and after she begins to make the kind of decisions for right and wrong that only humans can, she will still try to do what he commands. And another thing, while all nature does what He directs and brings glory to Him by doing so, only we who are His children can love Him. So Selena can only glorify her Creator, as it says in the catechism, if and when she comes to love Him. Then the entire catechism answer would be true of her. She would glorify Him by loving Him and doing what He commands. Let’s just pray that it will be so.

I wonder what the temperature will go up to today. I’ll let you know.