Marylanders like to joke about how unpredictable our weather is. People here sometimes say “if you don’t like the weather right now, wait 5 minutes.” The weather might be different then. There’s also this funny “chart” using the Maryland flag to make the same point:
We don’t get long, consistent seasons, only a few days or a couple weeks of the same weather at a time. Maybe for Marylanders, Psalm 148:7-8 is harder to swallow. It says:
“Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!”
The second half of these verses describe weather, mostly bad weather, and says the different kinds of weather are all “fulfilling his word”! To God, the weather isn’t unpredictable at all. It’s doing exactly what He knows it will do. I’m not saying we should praise God for devastating wildfires and hurricanes, but the Psalm is saying that the weather itself should praise the Lord. Therefore, we should praise the Lord for the weather, whatever it is!
Also consider that the weather we might consider so unpredictably annoying is obeying God better than we do. If we’re frustrated by the weather, imagine how frustrating we must be to God. Fortunately, God is more than willing to forgive us for all the things we do or don’t do that dishonor Him. Through the death of Jesus, God’s wrath is fulfilled, and through His resurrection we are given new life and in the future world, we will always be “fulfilling his word.”
Whether you’re frustrated with the weather today or not, remember that God loves you even if you’re as unpredictable as the weather (or more). So, praise God today for the weather and praise God for the sacrifice of Jesus that reconciles us to Him.
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 