Our Times, His Hands

The old joke “everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it” has lost its humor. Agreed? For years, we believed the weather was completely out of our hands. Historical and current weather phenomena are proving us at least partly wrong.

A 1930's dust storm

I recently read Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds, a riveting novel set in the American Great Plains during the Great Depression. I remember my grandmother talking about “the dirty thirties,” but Manitoba’s experience paled in comparison to Hannah’s vivid descriptions of the terrifying dust storms and relentless heat of the Texas and Oklahoma pan handles. Hundreds of thousands of farmers migrated west out of desperation and starvation, only to become the unwanted destitute trying to survive in disease-infested squatters’ camps. When I try to imagine myself in the worn shoes of the main character, a young mother of remarkable strength, I am certain I’d come up sorely lacking in the grit and determination department.

Turns out those dirty thirties were largely a result of man-made mistakes. Farmers plowed and planted without regard for soil conservation or erosion prevention practices. When combined with a drought, results proved catastrophic. Once agronomists identified the problem, government stepped in to create educational and retroactive programs to help bring about the end of those preventable dust storms.

For years, environmental experts have been trying to tell us our disregard for the planet would deliver dire consequences, that global climate change is causing the weird weather across our planet. With the wildfires, floods, drought, grasshoppers, and heat all wreaking havoc, maybe we are finally listening and wondering whether it’s too late.

John Maxwell said, “People change when they hurt enough that they have to, learn enough that they want to, and receive enough that they are able to.” Learning and receiving won’t do much good until we hurt enough. Perhaps that time has come.

In May, I started a cover-to-cover sprint through the Bible, subjecting myself to endless records of violent wars and battles too gory to describe. Humans treating other humans in the most despicable and misogynistic manners, seemingly with God’s blessing. What a relief to reach the Psalms, although they, too, contain their share of despair.

It’s reminding me that none of the things we’re currently experiencing are particularly new. The Bible has much to say about injustice, pestilence, plagues, drought, and even wildfires. Look at some of the passages I’ve come across in this ancient book recently. Could they not be describing the daily news?

In Psalm 83:14 and 15, Asaph tells God what he should do with his enemies. “As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze, so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm.”

In 2 Chronicles 6:28, King Solomon’s prayer when he dedicated the temple included these words: “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain … When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come…” Almost as though they expected it.

The ancients were no strangers to the troubles we’re experiencing, but perhaps they were a little better at knowing where to turn. “My times are in your hands,” David said to God in Psalm 31:15 when surrounded by trouble on every side.

Those ellipses I placed in Solomon’s speech represent more positive promises about what happens when God’s people turn to him, confessing their wrongdoing, requesting his help, and acknowledging that he alone understands the human heart.

Could the biggest reason this all feels so strange to us is because we’ve had life so good for so long? Could it be that, just maybe, God really does have the whole world in his hands?