According to the calendar, summer “officially” began last week…
However, according to my electric bill, summer actually started last month…and its been breathing down our proverbial necks ever since. 🥵😣😒🙄😎🤣
(Move to Florida, they said…it’ll be fun, they said.) 🤣🤣🤣🙄🙄🙄🤣🤣🤣
Besides the heat and humidity, summer in subtropical climates also comes with plenty of rain.
The rainy season in Florida is that magical time of year when every afternoon like clockwork, the clouds roll in and it rains cats and dogs for at least an hour or so, allowing enough time for our plants and flowers to get a drink — and local theme parks to cash in on selling oversized-trash bags to tourists for 15 bucks a pop. 😳😳😳
While I’m not a Florida-native, I’ve grown somewhat accustomed to this monsoon-like weather pattern over the years.
And for the most part, I’ve learned to plan my day around these storms.
Which is exactly why it threw me for a loop when summer kicked off with a bit of a dry spell this year….
Don’t get me wrong— the forecasters still predicted showers every morning…and the storm clouds still rolled in every afternoon…
…but day after day, the dark clouds made an appearance, only to pass over us without releasing a single drop of rain.
I found myself parched…and perplexed.
🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔
And as the days went by, I watched my flowers and plants begin to wither without these daily showers.
But I was still convinced that the rain was coming, just like it had all those years before.
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And that’s when I got to thinking…
How often do we spend our time bracing for “storms of life” that never come? And how parched are we becoming in the process?
From thunderstorms to hurricanes, we all know forecasters get it wrong A LOT.
And so do newscasters for that matter. 🙄
Just like the predicted chance of storms sometimes never come to pass, we have to remember that some of the doom and gloom that we hear predicted on CNN or Fox News will never come to pass either.
Right now, our country is a buzz over things like inflation, gas prices, wars, gun control, and abortion laws, just to name a few.
It seems a dark cloud has settled.
But no matter how ominous the Doppler radar of our lives may look, it would be helpful to remember that all storms eventually blow over — and the dreadful things we think will happen, sometimes never even come to pass.
God doesn’t want us to spend our lives anxiously awaiting the next storm or wondering where the next bolt of lightning may strike (Philippians 4:6-7).
If we spend our days simply “preparing for the storm,” instead of “preventing the drought,” we may end up like my flowers — parched.
Instead of constantly keeping our eyes on the skies, God says we would do better to meditate on Him instead.
And when we do, the Bible says we will be “like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
Stay in God’s Word, hydrate yourself with its Living Water…and don’t be anxious for the drought or the storm, because God is the God of it all.
Until next time…
-PWAP
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does. -Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD
And whose trust is the LORD. “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit. -Jeremiah 17:7-8