Sunshine and storms …

I have an addiction.

It’s to good weather.

Not simply fair weather, but really good weather.

That’s why I lived most of my life in California, some in Arizona, and even a while in Hawaii. All places with really good weather.

But even in those places it sometimes gets cold. It sometimes rains. It sometimes storms.

When the bad weather comes along, I don’t run outside and shake my fist at God, stomp my feet, and throw a fit that the bad weather has interrupted my enjoyment of the good weather. Not every day will be a sun-shining beach day, even in the “paradise” of Hawaii.

And not every day in life is going to be a good day. Not every day is going to be chalk full of blessings. Not every day is going to be wholly enjoyable.

Sometimes, storms arise in life.

And that’s just life!

In fact, Job 5:7 says, “People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.” We’re lightning rods for trouble! It’s only by the mercy and grace of God that we don’t experience more troubles than we actually do.

But have you noticed how some people throw a fit with God when the bad times come?

Maybe that’s because so many preachers teach from the pulpit that we can get mad at God, that He’s big enough to handle it.

Well, He is. We can get mad at God, but that doesn’t mean we should.

God doesn’t owe me or you a perfect day every day. Or any day.

In fact, He doesn’t even owe us another day!

Instead of throwing a fit about the “bad” things that sometimes cloud our lives, we need to remember just how full of grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, help, presence, and a host of other incredible blessings that God pours into our lives on a daily basis.

If we did that, we’d likely worship a lot more, and complain a lot less.

About the only thing I could do to fulfill my preference for good weather was to live in places that usually have good weather. If I chose to live in other places, like Chicago during the winter, my choices would be contrary to what I want to accomplish.

The same goes with living life with the blessing of God. If we want Him to smile on us, then we need to live in such a way that provokes His smile! If we want to be blessed of God, then we need to live as children of God. But we can’t expect the blessings when we live in contradiction to God.

Whether our lives consist of good weather, or good favor, often comes down to the choices we make of where we place ourselves and how we interact with God and others. The results will be sunshine or storms.

Which results are you pursuing with your choices?

Scotty