Weather forecasters drive me crazy. Living in the Ozarks the weather can change drastically, even in the course of one day. Tornadoes, wind, rain, thunderstorms, snow, ice, frigid temperatures, heat waves with triple digit temperatures, drought, sweltering humidity, floods are all typical throughout the year. In fact they can all occur in the course of a week, maybe a couple days. Whenever the forecasters say flurries, I worry we might have heavy snow. And when they tells us we could get 14 inches of snow, I relax.
Our weather men and women get it right eighty percent of the time AFTER it happens. Before it happens, that's a different story. Occasionally you will see in gift shops in our area an Ozarks Weather Rock to help one determine the weather. It's a small stone suspended from a stick structure that looks almost like a hangman's noose. On the base the interpretations go something like this: 1. If the rock is still, it's calm. 2. If the rock is moving, it's windy. 3. If the rock is wet, it's raining. 4. If the rock is dry and casts a shadow, it's sunny. 5. If the rock is cold, it's cold. 6. If the rock is hot, it's hot. Some think that this weather rock is more accurate than our weather people.
Jesus talks about interpreting the weather in Luke 12. He says the average person is smart enough to figure it out as they see it approaching. The problem comes with reading the signs of the times. We seem to be blind. We're worse than the weather forecasters. Like they, we have all the modern equipment and insights available to us, but we can't seem to see what's coming.
Jesus seems to be saying to take a good look around you, pay attention to what's happening in your life. Most of us often take off on paths in life and without a thought as to where they might lead us. We go along with crowd. We jump into things just because we think it looks like fun. We're often blind to the environment we're getting into. Either we simply ignore the warning signs or we're totally oblivious to them.
Maybe we need an Ozarks Weather Rock to carry around. Not to determine the weather, but to determine the signs of the time. Many of us can't see when it's time to move on in a relationship or career or when it's time to get out of the environment that's dragging us down. We're either blind or we ignore the signs. Many of us crash and burn for that reason. All the warning lights and alarms were going off, but it didn't stop us. Then we wonder how we got into the mess we're in.
Like the robot from the old TV series, "Lost in Space," God placed the Holy Spirit inside of us to cry out, "Warning, Warning, Danger, Will Robinson." He's given us His Word, the Bible to give us instruction on the right and wrong paths to take in life. He displays the direction on screen and gives us turn by turn navigation. He's given us eyes to see, ears to hear, minds to conceive, but still we can't read the signs. We can't read the signs of the times, because we're not listening to the interpreter.
Take a good look around. Where are you in life? What's really going on? If you continue on your path, where is it going to lead you? What's happening in your relationship with your spouse, your kids, your parents, your boyfriend or girlfriend, your peers? What's your relationship with God right now? What's going on in your heart and mind? Where are you going to spend eternity?
God, sometimes I get so caught up in the activities of my life and environment, that I stop paying attention to the warning signs. I need your Spirit to remind me, direct me, awaken me, renew me. Remove the blinders from eyes.
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