The week began with heavy rains and thunder showers here in the GTA with flooding and pooling in many areas especially towards the Lakeshore. And power outages, snarled traffic and strong winds swept in like an unwelcomed friend. These are the tentacles of unstable weather that have spanned Southern Ontario as Hurricane Beryl spins out into strong winds and rain-bearing clouds. The eye of the storm is no longer a stable circle of terror but a floppy ring of storm clouds and strong winds.
As I think of the devastating impact of Beryl on the Windward Islands, Jamaica, Cancun, and Texas, I am thankful that we have only heavy showers and wind. Yet, it is not difficult to let our minds sink into the negative. Even the language we use – “why are you so gloomy”; “we have to weather out the storms”; “it’s hard to be singing in the rain” – betray us to the unpleasantness of unstable weather. And our souls are often subject to the prevailing reminders of stormy skies and rainy futures. The Psalmist records his struggle with the negative when he cried out to his soul, “Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why are you so disquieted with me?” Good questions to ask our soul. Scriptures tell us that the soul is eternal and that circumstances are temporal. Yet it is curious that things temporal are too often granted overwhelming impact on things eternal. The Psalmist reminds his soul, “Look to God, for I shall yet praise Him. He is your Hope and your Salvation” (Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5). Do you see it? Make your eternal soul look to the Eternal God. It is the connection that jolts us back to the joy of His hope and the beauty of His salvation. And what of the temporal? Remember our rain showers? The sunshine has since peeked through. The heat dome that had settled over us with oppressive temperatures over the last week had been blown away by the strong winds. “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
Just Church
Church is about remind each of us to keep our eyes on the Eternal God. “The vision of Just Church is to establish a church in just the way Christ called the church to be – true to His Word, loving Him, loving one another, and loving the lost.”
