My Year Listening to God

by alan spencer photography

Global warming.

I believe the Bible speaks to it. In my readings this morning, I read these words from God,

"While the earth remains,

seedtime and harvest,

And cold and HEAT,

And summer and winter,

And day and night

Shall not cease.

(Genesis 8:22)

As long as the Earth lasts, it will experience cold and heat. Global warming is a key issue in many minds. So as a Christian I can address it from a biblical worldview.

Here in the beginnings of the created order, God reaffirms what He initiated. He is in charge of the heating and cooling of the earth.

As his creation, humankind can observe the environment more meticulously and more accurately. Yet in the big picture of things, God is in charge. He rules over His creation. As long as the earth remains God will oversee the warming and the cooling of the earth. I take solace in that fact.

by geezer741uk

Now does that mean I don't care about the wise stewardship of God's creation? No. Neither does it mean that I obsess about my carbon footprint. I must maintain balance. I am God's creation, He created this earth for me and for all who presently reside and all who will eventually emerge onto this earth. I sense extremes and radicals who would push the pendulum or stack the balance in their favor according to their political biases. But right now, I seek a moderate approach to global warming.

Global warming is a fact recorded by scientists. In my worldview, I believe God oversees His creation--so I trust Him to take care of it all. Likewise, I believe God holds me responsible for how I steward what He has entrusted to each person who emerges onto this planet. Still, I am not solely responsible or ultimately responsible for what occurs. We have only been tracking global temperatures as long as the techonology to do so has developed. So we may not know the patterns of how the earth heats and cools over the centuries prior to scientific observation. Nevetheless, the earth is warming up.

I need to know more. I wonder if you have resources for me to read and investigate. Sure, I can start with a wiki. But what other resources are available to gather more data so that I can more wisely steward God's creation for His glory and under His sovereign oversight. Please comment and send me information on the various viewpoints you come across or propound.

My Year Listening to God

"I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me (Psalm 3:5)"

As I end my day, I neglected to read my portion of Scripture. I am determined to make this a new habit in my life for this coming year. I read the above words and giggle, because I am tired, yet I made the effort to get to the computer and read the passages and journal my thoughts on my blog.

I am a Christian. I know that the Lord sustains me. Even when I feel tired, unmotivated to read the Bible; God still sustains me.

I praise God for my family. My parents, two sisters, a nephew and a niece all came from New Mexico for a visit. It has been a great 24-hours. I do miss them greatly when we are apart. I need to tell them that. Nevertheless, God fuels my life. God energizes my life. God is a real battery charger for my life. Once I gave my life to Him, I can sleep or stay awake and He sustains me.

I trust you can find that kind of confidence too. I am so grateful to God for sustaining me. In Psalm 3 the context of the chapter is David fleeing from his own son who wanted to kill him. I do not have the same life circumstance, but the truth rings true. No matter how crazy or insane my life may feel--God can sustain you. I wonder what kind of insanity has made you crazy this week. I am open to hearing from you. Later, I need to go to sleep.

My Year Listening to God

photo by dawnsy58

I awoke to the sounds of a cardinal chirpin' in the trees outside my window. His piercing calls poked at me, to get out of bed. I arose and went to read the portion set out for my in my plan.

In my readings today, I reviewed the curse on Adam after his disobedience. Painful toil--that was his lot until his death. That is my lot until my death. That is your lot until your death. Pretty challenging, but realistic (from a biblical worldview).

I find it challenging to engage work everyday. I know people complain about work. As I go from place to place, I've asked tellers, cashiers, and laborers how work is going. I've heard great laments to a resignation that work gets me a paycheck that I get to blow.

I was at the checkout at Walmart today and the cashier greeted me (I checked that she did on the survey as I scanned my credit card). She is looking forward to working third shift. I worked third shift at a driveshaft plant for Dana Corp. I worked hard, but I did not want third shift. My goal and everyone else's was to land on first shift. Yet here is a woman wanting, begging, looking forward to third shift. I guess the painful toil of labor has even deluded the Walmart worker. She warmly exit greeted me and Melissa, my wife. Then we went home.

I am struck by the strenuous nature of work. I have on my shelf a book to read by Larry Winget, It's called work for a reason! I hope to get more insight into what he means and possibly learn how people deal with the toilsome labors of everyday life and strive to be successful. The working man or woman needs only to blame ol' Adam for falling from a painless workfree existence, all because of his sinful actions.

Since then, work has always been hard. Work has shaped me, chiseled me, wrung me out, flogged me, burnt me, scewerd me, deflated me, beat me, and left me for dead. When I've put my back into work, I've truly labored hard. I have Adam to blame for work being hard. So as I take a few days off this week. I don't look forward to getting back to work. I know that it's going to be hard. Why did you do this to me, Adam?