Unless you're someone like my brother who likes to brag about riding his motorcycle in the cold, wind, and rain, most of us “casual bikers” are looking forward to at least a few days of consistent weather of the drier variety.

Sometimes I wonder how such a consistent, dependable, un-changing God can be the God of such inconsistency, especially when it comes to Oklahoma weather. After all, the apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace.”

Those two ways of thinking seem to be at odds with each other until you think about how big God really is. God created the heavens and the earth and everything in it (Genesis 1). So, who are we say that earthly inconsistencies are inconsistent at all? Isn't it just possible that things that make absolutely no sense to us make perfect sense to our Creator who knows exactly what His creation needs?

God may test His people (1 Thessalonians 2:4, 1 Corinthians 3:13), and may send trials (James 1:2-4). But we can be assured that God does NOT send temptations (James 1:13-15) which can either come from us or from the devil as was the case when Jesus was fasting in desert before beginning His ministry (Matthew 4).

Matthew 5:45 says, “… He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

Remember the story of a very stubborn preacher named Jonah who was vomited onto dry land after being in the belly of a big fish for three days? That happened to get Jonah's attention after he refused to obey God and go preach to the wicked city of Nineveh. So, after praying to God from inside the belly of the fish, and eventually unraveling the seaweed from his head, and probably having quite a clean-up job to do, Jonah finally agreed to go to Nineveh.

Upon hearing Jonah's message of impending doom, the people there actually turned from their evil ways! Therefore, God changed His mind about destroying them. Then, believe it or not, Jonah became angry because of God's great compassion (Jonah 4). After all, the Ninevites were extremely violent and cruel.

So, Jonah who was apparently a better preacher than a builder, sat under a shelter he made for himself while waiting to see what God's next move would be for Nineveh.

Little did Jonah know that God was about to teach him another lesson. God provided a vine to give Jonah some shade to “ease his discomfort.” Jonah was happy about that, especially since the shelter he had made for himself apparently wasn't doing the trick. But, the next morning, God sent a worm to eat the vine, then shortly thereafter a scorching east wind and sun that blazed on Jonah's head. This made Jonah “angry enough to die.”

God said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not make it grow …” God went on to tell Jonah of the importance of concern for Nineveh, a city of people who “cannot tell their right hand from their left …”

The fact is, we live in a broken world, the land of the dying. If earth were a perfect place, we would have nothing to look forward to. Just like Jonah, we created nothing, not even a blade of grass. God created everything. None of us here in Fort Gibson is qualified to give the final word on how God should operate. I would not like the idea of living on a planet in which the one in control was just another person.

Let's all pray today that God will help each of us have the kind of faith that will allow us to trust God.