Today’s scripture: Luke 12:54 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (David Zier):
The clouds move in and hide the sun, and then it rains. On a summer day during a heat spell, the wind blows and it feels like someone turned on the furnace. Simple signs. In the winter, it’s cold, the clouds move in, and we get ice, snow, sleet; or the wind blows, and it’s a blizzard. Not so easy for our weather forecasters, but they know something’s coming. Some things are obvious, and we know right away. Some things are revealed to us, and it does not seem obvious until we are ready. Let me explain.
When I was younger, I loved math. I was in every math course available (and more), on the math team in high school (yup, one of those nerd jocks), and even succeeded in Stochastic Processes, which was probably the toughest math class I ever took (George Washington University Engineering Masters). When I was sixteen, I was using Fortran to write mathematical programs on PDP 11 mainframes at the naval research lab to help map the ocean floor (South Pacific region at that time). During college I was working at the NASA Digital Electronics Division, on the Shuttle Launch Processing System. The weather signs in my life were always there – to do something with math and science, so I followed.
I loved my career at the Food and Drug Administration as a consultant in medical devices. I was doing very well at Quintiles Transnational. Then in the early 2000s, the signs were happening. I loved my job, but it became mundane. I did not like all the travel, even though it may have been a wonderful blessing to see the world. I loved what I did, but even with the new projects that were fun and exciting, everything seemed ordinary and maybe a little boring. It was easy to go through the motions. But God kept placing little things before me. “Remember how your pastor told you he saw ministry in your future, when you were a teen?” “How is it that you gravitate easily toward people you work with around the world involving issues of faith?” Why do you keep reading books and material about spiritual things, prayer, and the church? Typically it was stuff about cars and regulatory stuff as you travel, so why is it different now.” “God, why do you keep asking me, ‘Are you happy?’” “Why do I enjoy it so much more when I do things related to the church community?” “Why don’t you just tell me?” (Ever felt like that!)
In 2002 I found myself at St. Matthews Cathedral in northwest Washington, DC. The building was under major renovation, so construction signs were everywhere. There is a large statue of God in the clouds, and it was walled off with construction barricades. There was a partial passage from the book of Romans about being led and built up by the Spirit on a ripped piece of paper from a bulletin on the floor where I sat. Here I am, questioning, in a big cathedral under renovation, with this partial passage. After this experience, I eventually began to realize how powerful the signs were. It was me who was under construction, and God who was leading me, even though I was resistant. It took almost six years before I would enter seminary. Sometimes the weather signs are there, but it may take us time to notice or to discern what the signs mean.
Sometimes we see weather signs, and we know and follow. Other times, it is not so easy, if we are not ready. Yet we don’t stop discerning the meaning; we pray, we test, we follow where it leads.
Thought for the Day: What weather signs are you noticing?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.