This past week, the news has been filled with information on the wildfires that are burning across Canada. According to the latest count, there are more than 440 fires that have consumed more than 10,000,000 acres of land – far ahead of what happens most years.
The fires have been so devastating that smoke has travelled down throughout the United States and has created health hazards across the east coast and the midwest. In fact, wind conditions have caused massive and numerous warnings about staying indoors to avoid particulates that can cause at-risk people respiratory problems.
In New York city, things were so bad that people were covering the faces of their dogs with masks and a supply of oxygen to keep them from getting ill. I don’t think we have seen that kind of fear in people since the announcement of COVID several years ago. While things here in central Indiana weren’t quite that desperate, we did have a high level warning for most of the week.
I can tell that I was even slightly affected by the poor air quality. I am positive that it is a result of working outside and not realizing that the haze in the air was actually smoke from the fires.
To make things even worse, it has been almost a month since we have had a drop of rain and that was minimal. The flowers, gardens and lawns have been struggling and the situation has been exacerbated by the smoke from the north.
We have been praying for rain to end the drought as well as to help cleanse the air of the dirt that we are all breathing. And today, God shined on us and provided the much needed relief. Tonight, things smell cleaner and brighter. Hopefully, we have been spared additional stress with the dryness and the fires.
Our verse for tonight is from the book of Job. It’s an Old Testament book that tells the story of Job and how Satan attacked Job and his family. Throughout it all, Job was steadfastly loyal to God. In the book we learn about the faithfulness of God and are made aware of His control of nature and everything in the world. That includes the snow, the rain and even fire.
We are told, in Job 5:10, “He bestows rain on the earth; he sends water upon the countryside.” This is a seemingly short and even insignificant verse, but it speaks volumes. Imagine the power of God to control the rain and other elements of nature. My encouragement this evening is that God owns and controls it all – everything! He has created this earth for us – to be in communion with Him during our earthly existence. My prayer is that we will all be more aware of God’s creation and the awesome power he must possess to have created it all – which has been entrusted to our care. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…