Thank you, God, for the weather.
Can I thank God for something that I am not happy about? I do not like to be cold. I really don’t like to be cold after I have been warm. But as I made my way to church today, I was thankful. Not because I was cold, but because I am in awe of it. God is in control, and we are not—even though I believe we have done things to change the weather.
The cold does make me thankful for shelter and warm clothes. The fluctuation reminds us of the sharpness in cool air, and if we don’t let the emotion go straight to bitterness, maybe it can be a reminder of God’s presence with us.
This is yet another reminder that this gratitude journal is changing me. I didn’t want to write about being amazed by the weather. I wanted to be grumpy. But as I thought about what to write, this was the thing that came to mind. I looked around and saw grass that probably should be mowed. I noticed flowering trees and wondered what might happen if it decided to frost. I debated whether I should go get my coat. But instead of being grumpy, I thought about the ways God was teaching me in this (weird, to me) teachable moment.
I don’t think today’s thankfulness is really about the weather, though. I think today’s thankfulness is for the here and not yet. There are lots of things that are here and not yet. Maybe I’m not grumpy because I have had a taste of warmer days, and I know they are coming. Maybe I am not grumpy because having an attitude of gratitude is changing me. But I also know that the realization of here and not yet is one of the many hopeful things we have as Christians. The realization of the Kingdom of God is both here and not yet. The warm weather is both here and not yet. The anticipation of Christmas during Advent is a here and not yet.
This idea extends into our daily lives. I’d like to say it’s just a younger generation thing, but I think it has become a cultural thing. We don’t like trying new things because we don’t like to be bad at them. Whether it’s new hobbies, new ideas, a new way of doing things, or a new normal—whatever the new is, it has a way of scaring us because we struggle to embrace the here but not yet. But if we keep going, eventually, we will see the plan God has for us.
The Bible stories don’t say, but I don’t think the stone that hit Goliath was the first stone David ever slung. Noah’s ark probably wasn’t Noah’s first building project. They likely had practiced other ventures in life that made them a likely pick for God—even if they weren’t master marksmen or master boat builders.
Can you think of other here and not yet moments in your life right now? Where do you see glimpses of something good but not yet fully realized?
Commentaires