Does God Control The Weather?

THE DAILY WORD
By Jim Seekamp

Friday February 29, 2008

Matthew 8:23-27 (NIV)
23. Then he (Jesus) got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
26. He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. 27. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

If we just read this story through quickly, it may seem that God is in control of the weather. After all, Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves and the storm stopped completely! But if we look a little bit more closely, we will see that God is NOT in control of the weather on earth!

First of all, Jesus had to intervene in order to stop the storm! If God had WANTED that storm to happen, then Jesus was working AGAINST God's will! Remember; according to Jesus Himself, any kingdom divided against itself cannot stand:

Matthew 12:25,26 (NIV)
25. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?

When Jesus healed the sick, the Bible makes it clear that He was undoing the devil's work, not God's:

Acts 10:38 (NIV)
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

If God had CAUSED any of the sickness that Jesus healed, then the Kingdom of God would have been divided aginst itself, and it could not stand, because Jesus ONLY DID God's will, and He is the exact representation of God the Father's being!

John 14:10 (NIV) (Jesus speaking)
Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

Hebrews 1:2,3 (NIV)
2. but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being...

We must therefore apply the same principle to the weather as we do to healing; God cannot be divided against Himself! Therefore God could not have CAUSED the storm that Jesus REBUKED!

God created the earth and set the weather system into motion in the beginning; but He does not CONTROL it now that it has been created; any more than He would control animals or people after He created THEM!

Storms can be equated with other types of danger. God did not CAUSE the tower in Siloam to fall on eighteen people. It was something that happened; the tower fell, and some people were in the wrong place at the wrong time:

Luke 13:1-5 (NIV)
1. Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3. I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
4. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5. I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

God set the weather system of the earth into motion when He created the earth, but He is not controlling the weather now. If He were, then the Kingdom of God would be divided against itself; which it can never be!

PRAYER
Thank You Father for loving all mankind and not showing favoritism. Help me remember that that same love You have for the world is also inside me all the time; especially when I don't feel like it is.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

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