“He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” Matthew 16:2-3 (New International Version)

There is an old saying that goes like this “if you don’t like our weather, just wait five minutes.”  This is especially true about the unstable nature of Czech summers.

When we arrived to Český Těšín on Saturday, July 8, Europe was setting record high temperatures.  Now we are experiencing rain (up to 1.3 inches predicted today) and mild temperatures with a 59 degree predicted high tomorrow.  But does this really matter much?

At home, I would say “no”, but here, we are a little more tied to the weather than back in Arizona.  For one thing, there is no air conditioning in our home here – much like all the other homes in the area.  On hot days, we need to open windows in the morning and close them before it gets too hot, so that we trap as much cool air in the house as we can.  Failure to do so results in a very unpleasant evening.  On rainy days, like today, we need to plan our outside schedule around when rain is expected, and if all of us need to be somewhere we need to give special thought to transportation (remember, our vehicle seats five and we have six people here). We don’t have the opportunity to change the weather in our favor.  We accept it and adjust our plans to match the conditions outside.

But what are we really doing when we adjust our plans to the weather?  It is important to remember that God is the one who controls the weather (remember, Jesus rebuked the storm, God causes the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous, etc.) By learning to observe and adjust to the weather, we are also developing skills that should have direct spiritual parallels. In fact, this is exactly what Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees for in Matthew 16.  They could read and react to the weather patterns but had not developed an ability to understand the outline of Gods plan that was unfolding around them.  I don’t want to fall into the same trap.

So, my challenge to all of us is this: next time you reach for your weather app, take a moment to ask the question “what are the signs of God’s plan unfolding around me”.  Maybe he is providing an opportunity for you to share His grace, love, or comfort.  Maybe you are being called to serve in a new way.  Or maybe He wants you to deal with specific sin or temptation in your life.  Whatever it is, let’s learn to adjust our spiritual agenda to match God’s forecast.

UPDATE:

Since the time of the writing of this post, the we have been in weather “Condition Red” for rain and flooding.  Over 7 inches of rain were predicted over a 48 hour period with concern that the river would overflow due to the storm waters.  We are up on a hill so it is not an issue for us, but we know others who live nearer to the river. Overnight, we didn’t get quite as much rain as expected.  We are praying for God’s continued grace in this situation.

Prayer Requests:

• That the expected rain does not cause the river through town to overflow.
• Continued successful and encouraging meetings with our Czech ministry partners, and friends.
• Health for the Sandys in the Czech Republic, and the rest of the team as they prepare for travel to the Czech Republic
• That Doug has no more painful flare ups and that he is able to successfully pass his kidney stone
• Remaining details for Czech English camp as we work together with the Czech team.
• That Christ would be glorified in and through the partnership between Family Bible Church and Církve bratrské v Českém Těšíně (the Czech church) this summer.