Over the past two weeks, I have written about how God has mastery over time and distance. There is so much more to what God controls. Today, I am going to talk about the weather. God has mastery over the weather. The first explicit statement about weather patterns in Scripture is found in Genesis 8:22 (though one could make an argument about Genesis 2:5 and a statement of no rain). In describing the world post-Flood, God promised the seasons would continue until all would come to pass. The earth has gone through numerous cyclical seasons of warming and cooling since then, however the seasons in general still continue precisely as God promised.
Many skeptics have asked me whether God direct and controls the rain or whether the water cycle sends rain. The real answer to that question is “yes.” Both are true. God did set up the water cycle to give the land rain on its own cycles, but he also controls the situations that enable to the water cycle to operate. He can send the rain with the water cycle, or He can withhold it. In either case, the water cycle is under the direct control and management of God.
There are numerous examples of God intervening with weather in Scripture. Perhaps the most famous case of God demonstrating His mastery over weather is when Jesus calmed the storm. When the storm took place, Jesus was sleeping in a boat with His disciples. The storm didn’t bother Him, while His disciples, four of them expert fishermen and masters of the sea, were scared for their lives. When they woke Him up, Jesus just shook His head asking, “Why are you doubting?” He simply spoke to the storm and said, “Be quiet!” Immediately, the storm stopped. This was not a case of a storm ending normally. The disciples knew how storms ended because they endured their share of them. This was different. This was a powerful storm ending suddenly upon command.
This wasn’t the only time Jesus controlled the weather. Right after He fed the 5000, Jesus followed His disciples across the lake by walking on the water. It was stormy that night too. Peter followed Jesus and walked on the water too, but the storm caught his attention and he began to sink. Jesus caught him, and the moment they arrived back on the boat the storm stopped.
God controlling the weather happened in the Old Testament too. When Jonah ran from God in attempt to escape from going to Nineveh, he got on a ship for Tarshish. So, God sent a storm to stop him. Jonah thought he could escape again but being tossed into the sea, but God prepared a great fish to swallow him and deliver him at Nineveh.
God did not stop controlling the weather when the Bible was completed either. Numerous reports of snow or fog or storms fill the history books which stopped advancing armies or enabled other armies to get out. One classic case was the battle of England against the Spanish Armada. England, having far weaker and few vessels, had longer range weapons. However, the day of the battle, a massive storm prevented the Spanish from getting close enough to hit their targets. It is widely reported that the Spanish general said, “We came to fight the English, not the winds and waves of God.” This battle paved the course of European history, which would eventually lead to the founding of America.
I have personally witnessed God change the weather for his purposes. A notable case came on Easter Weekend in 2001. I was with a mission team in Juarez, Mexico, and we had a VBS club, Bible study, events, and food at a local church and the surrounding neighborhood. We decided to give them a rare treat: ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, and other goodies for Easter Weekend.
The day of the event, a storm hit. It was one of the strongest wind storms in El Paso/Juarez history with regular gusts up to 88 mph. Those who know the area know what that means in the desert: DIRT! Those who live in the north understand blizzards so bad you can barely see a few feet in front of you. This is not a “white out,” this is a “brown out.” Virtually no one showed up for the event or the food, which meant we had a lot of leftovers that we could not bring back across the border into the U.S. So, we asked who needed food and we received word of an orphanage on the other side of the city. It turns out it was one we knew about but never could seem to find it. Now we knew where to go. When we arrived, they were down to their last bucket of carrots, praying for food. This fed them for at least another week, and we maintained a relationship with this orphanage for the next 10+ years.
But my best example of God having master over weather was in February 2011. It was my final semester at college before graduation and I spearheaded bringing Steve Lillis, a profession pool player who uses trick shots to preach the Gospel, to come to a couple shows in El Paso. We had one show scheduled for the UT El Paso Union Building and another at a pool hall. That week, El Paso was hit with the worst winter storm in history. Three straight days of sub-freezing temps plus snow and ice. Northern folk would laugh at that, but keep in mind that El Paso is not built for those temps. The entire city had to shut down. Literally. The pumps for the power stations froze, cutting power to the city, and that cut off the heaters to pipes in which 90% of the city’s stored water was lost due to pipes breaking. The city endured rolling blackouts for four days and had to boil water because of leaks in the pipes.
Well, we lost our venue at UTEP. But God opened the door for the show to move to the dorms and when one of the dorms lost a pipe and the city shut down, we had a captive audience, they couldn’t go anywhere. It was a powerful show, but not as powerful as that night. When we went to the pool hall, not a single person we invited showed up. But it was happy hour and Steve Lillis was a former pool shark who really knew the culture. He did his show, battled through hecklers, and when it was all done, one of the hecklers came up to him and asked “Why did you do that?” The answer was Jesus Christ. God took the plans we make, allowed a storm to hit to change them, and used it for His glory. Steve wrote an autobiography about his journey from pool shark to professional to the “Pastor of Pool” and this story is part of it.
Now a skeptic may come and say, “But what about those tsunami victims, or those killed by a tornado?” I cannot answer for why God does what He does unless He reveals it afterwards. I do know that God lets the rain fall on the just and the unjust. I know that as we fast approach the End Times, there will be earthquakes, storms and wars as the earth groans under the sin that man subjects to it. I know that God will allow a storm to take out the righteous and the wicked at the same time. But I also know He will direct and guide weather to work out little details in our lives. When such storms happen, our response is not to shake our fists at God in defiance as many will do going through the Seal, Trumpet, and Bowl judgments. Our response should be to repent, lest we too perish. Take notice that while storm deaths have increased, much of that is due to people building and living where storms hit. God can’t be put to blame for that.
God has mastery over the weather. While He can and does let the water cycle run its course, it is ultimately in His hands to use as He pleases. He may send a storm due to sin. He may let it run its course. He may send a storm to redirect people. But He has full control. The seasons will continue to run as they have been, and he cycles of the seasons will continue until the end comes.
Next week, we will look at how God has mastery over quantity.
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