STORMY WEATHER

I Was Just Thinking About – STORMY WEATHER.

Several years ago, a gloomy type romantic song was composed and popularized. It contained a repetitive phrase: “Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky, Stormy weather…Life is bare, gloom and misery everywhere; Stormy weather - Just can't get my poor self together…” It represented a lost or fracture relationship due to some unmentioned reason. It conveyed the idea that life was not worth living unless that lost person was found and the relationship restored to that which it once was.

There is a much different tone and focus in the spiritual realm. Rather than hopelessness or despair, there is hope and optimism. Rather than an inescapable end, there is an anticipated beginning in the full dimension of eternal life. A Hymn was written by Fanny Crosby (1885) that expresses the anticipated heavenly home: “On the happy, golden shore, Where the faithful part no more, When the storms of life are over, Meet me there; Where the night dissolves away Into pure and perfect day, I am going home to stay—meet me there.”

Part of the story behind the Hymn (based upon a Poem written by Carl G. Boberg and popularized by Stuart K. Hine in 1885), How Great Thou Art is: “The first three verses were inspired, line upon line, amidst unforgettable experiences in the Carpathian Mountains. In a village to which he had climbed, Mr. Hine stood in the street singing a Gospel Hymn and reading aloud, John, Chapter Three. Among the sympathetic listeners was a local village schoolmaster. A storm was gathering, and when it was evident that no further travel could be made that night, the friendly schoolmaster offered his hospitality. Awe-inspiring was the mighty thunder echoing through the mountains, and it was this impression that was to bring about the birth of the first verse.”

Some of these things came to mind because of the storms being experienced in different parts of the country. While some tend to attribute it immediately to global warming, the Scriptures address it in different significant terms. The Psalmist used terminology in Psalm 93:4 that references: “Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the Lord on high is mighty!” The prophet, Isaiah 30:30 (NIV) references: The Lord will cause people to hear his majestic voice and will make them see his arm coming down with raging anger and consuming fire, with cloudburst, thunderstorm and hail.”

I thought about these significant words during a severe storm in Alabama last night about 2:00 A.M. The thunder caused the house to rattle slightly, the lightening was flashing amid torrential rain. Revelation 11:19 describes a special event in Heaven: “Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.”

The Weather prognosticators can predict certain weather patterns and timing of anticipated storms. Many times those predictions do not occur as forecasted. However, the Scriptural prediction will in fact take place. Jesus indicated, Matthew 24:27, “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” Revelation 4:5 gives a description of the Throne of God: “From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder…”

When will all of these events take place? How precise can one be when anticipating the coming of Jesus Christ? Jesus stated the way one should be prepared and ready – Matthew 24:44, “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Are you prepared and ready for his coming? Are you ready and eagerly anticipating that moment?

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.