You can count on it
October 27, 2009 (Tuesday)
The weather is interesting whenever the seasons are changing. A forecast for the next 5 days predicted strong storms Sunday night, clear skies Monday morning with temperatures in the 80’s followed by a cold front and storms with strong winds in the afternoon, clear skies and cool temperatures Tuesday. The winds will shift and by Wednesday temperatures will rise and the winds will come from the south, getting ready for the next cold front Thursday night after a warm day. A 50% chance of rain on a cool day will greet the Friday football games.
CHANGE is the forecast. Whatever you experience this week with the weather will be temporary and will be subject to change at any time.
CHANGE is the forecast for our lives, too. We have lived through great changes in the history of the world. My grandmother moved as a little girl in a covered wagon from Leon County to Angelina County in Texas. When I was a boy, horses and mules were common sights on the streets of Houston, where they pulled wagons and carts. No more.
Main Street in Houston used to have hitching posts on the edge of the street. I’m sure they are all gone now. Nothing to hitch. No horses to hold in place. Picture post cards of Main Street downtown record the history of transportation, as they show scenes with wagons and carriages, then “tin lizzies,” followed later with Model T’s and Model A’s, which gave way to the streamlined cars of the 30’s. None of these vehicles are to be found anymore on the streets of the city, although there is a reclaimed Model A, painted a pretty green, that patrols 18th Street. I became part of a line of cars following it the other day, as the owner kept the speed down to be safe (and maybe to show off?).
These are just symptoms of deeper changes that have taken place in our nation and throughout the world. But we have adjusted and we always will.
Some are saying the world will end in 2012. Some things never change. They have been predicting that throughout recorded history. One of these days one of these predictions will come true. Then things will stop changing. In the meantime, get used to change. Live with it. Be able to say with Paul, “I have learned to be content no matter what the circumstances may be” (Phil 4:12).