Weather Alert | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Weather Alert | Previous Challenge Entry
By Ken Grant
03/11/20
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I live in Southern California, a place where the weather is pretty close to perfect most of the year. We really don't have seasons, at least not the kind they have in other parts of the country. It is sunny most of the time and we aren't against rubbing it in when we get the opportunity. Every first of the year, not too far from where I live, they hold a parade where they boast of the beautiful warm and sunny conditions while most of the country is frozen solid. It is a unique place to live and has many advantages, but it does come with its own peculiar challenges when the weather takes a turn for the worse.

That first rain, after a long drought, not uncommon for us living in what is essentially a desert, causes more road collisions than you would imagine possible. Because we do not salt our roads, the oils that build up over the many dry months all come up in that first rain and the cars begin to slip and slide all over the place. In addition, California drivers are incapable of slowing down for the conditions and so the number of fender-benders and more serious accidents increases exponentially when water falls from the sky.

Of course what we Southern Californians refer to as rain would barely be noticed by those in most other places. Any measurable rain at all sends us scurrying for cover, canceling any plans that require us to be outside, and causing sandbags to be filled and placed at an amazing rate. We connect any rain at all with mudslides that do untold damage to our homes that for some inexplicable reason we place on the side of hills where the view is incredible but that are prone to having a deluge of mud flow through and around them on a regular basis.

Growing up in this unique place, I have grown so accustomed to it that I had forgotten how truly strange we are. When my relatives came out for an extended stay, a weather alert sent them into a tizzy worrying that they might die. When the rains came, what they would refer to as not much more than a drizzle, they burst out laughing at the fear-mongering that filled the television weather forecasts. It reminded me how easily we can fall into patterns set by the world around us without even being aware of it. As I meditated on this truth, I realized how difficult it is to be obedient to the biblical command not to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of my mind. Only biblical truth has the power to set me free from the fears common to so many in this world.

Now, when the people on the television are calling for inclement weather, I listen but no longer fall into fear. My trust is in my Lord and I know that He can keep me safe no matter the weather conditions. My Father is a safe refuge that I can run to in any circumstance. Still, thankfully, I still remember my mother's warning and I know enough to come in out of the rain.

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