We
are wrapping up our second blizzard and our fourth snow event in the past week.
This latest installment of winter wonderland dumped eleven inches of snow and
made my driveway impassible. Ironically, the sun is shining brightly, even as
the wind continues to howl. It reminds me that we are not as much in control as
we think we are.
For
all of our advances in technology, we still cannot control the weather. We can
track it, predict it, endure it, even fight it, but we cannot control it. This
morning several people labored to clear a path from our houses out to the
highway. After lunch, my wife and I took a walk to the mailboxes. The piles of
snow on either side of our driveway are chest high. As we turned the corner out
of our house, past our windbreak, we were confronted with an undulating series
of foot-high snowdrifts. I had been debating about going into town to keep some
appointments I had for this afternoon. After our walk, I knew it was fruitless.
Even if I could get out of the drive, I would have an incredible time getting
back in.
As
human beings, we labor under an illusion of power and control. We have great
abilities to reorder our world. We can literally move mountains. Yet, a
February blizzard can still bring our activity to a halt. We can move the snow
out of our driveways, but we can’t stop it from falling. We can plant a
windbreak to shield our house from the wind, but we can’t stop the wind from
blowing. We can drill wells and draw water from the earth, but we can’t make it
rain to replenish those wells.
This
latest blizzard reminds me of a conversation that Job had with God. God had
allowed Job to go through some monumental trials. He basically lost everything,
except his life. He was a righteous man, and could not understand why life had
gone so wrong for him. He trusted God, but he also complained to God. I would
have preferred for God to give a straight answer to Job, but He didn’t.
Instead, God reminded Job about who is ultimately in charge. For four chapters,
God pummels Job with unanswerable questions. Here is just a taste. (Job
38:1-30)
Then
the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said: "Who is this that darkens
my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will
question you, and you shall answer me.
"Where were you when I laid
the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its
dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what
were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-- while the morning stars
sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
"Who shut up the sea behind
doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and
wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and
bars in place, when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is
where your proud waves halt'?
"Have you ever given orders
to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by
the edges and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under
a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied
their light, and their upraised arm is broken.
"Have you journeyed to the
springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of
death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have
you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
"What is the way to the
abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their
places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Surely you know, for you were
already born! You have lived so many years!
"Have you entered the
storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve
for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place
where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are
scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a
path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no
one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does
the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the
ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard
as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?
When
God was done speaking, all Job could do was sit in humble silence. He had met
his match and he knew it. He raised the white flag of surrender, and declared
God the winner.
Humanity,
in our arrogance, often boldly declares that we have discovered the secrets of
our world. We laugh at God’s interchange with Job, as if it represents a past
ignorance. Yet, for all of our advanced knowledge, we still have not mastered
the created world, let alone the God who created it. We may be able to explain
a few things better than Job, but we still cannot control the elements. A
little snow and a strong wind can still shut us down. Like Job, we should
recognize the awesome power of God and sit in humble silence before His mighty
hand.
Psalm 147:15-18
He sends his command to the earth; his word
runs swiftly.
He spreads the snow like wool and scatters
the frost like ashes.
He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who
can withstand his icy blast?
He sends his word and melts them; he stirs
up his breezes, and the waters flow.
