I’m always somewhat surprised when I hear someone complain that the weather forecaster was wrong. Yes, people should do their jobs well. Accountants should do their math correctly, mailmen should deliver to the right address, and cooks shouldn’t burn the food. But meteorologists? That’s a different story altogether. After all, their job is to try to predict what God will do, which is precisely why they’re so often wrong!

We human beings like to be in control (or at least we like to believe that we are). Thanks to climate control, mankind can now survive in locations that were previously uninhabitable, whether due to extreme heat or extreme cold. This can give us the false notion that we are much more powerful than we actually are, and a false sense that our ingenuity makes us invincible. But all it takes is a breath from God’s mouth or a touch of His hand, and we immediately realize just how frail we are.

I recently saw a show about the 10 most extreme weather cities. In one case, Death Valley became so hot that observers saw birds falling from the sky dead from the heat. In the coldest cities, they described the erratic behavior of people suffering hypothermia in the severe cold, their bodies unable to function at such low temperatures.

I am not the biggest fan of the cold snap we’ve had across the south the past few weeks. My California blood is freezing as I daydream about sunshine, palm trees, and mountains in the midst of cold, gloom, and ice. Yet I will say that it’s been a reminder of the sheer power and absolute sovereignty of God. When He brings His snow and ice out of the storehouses, the plans of man cannot stand. We must back down. We must cancel or change our plans. And we must be careful in the midst of potentially dangerous elements much stronger than ourselves. It’s a reminder that we are not in control, and we are not as strong as we think we are. And it’s a reminder that God is in absolute control, He is more powerful than we can imagine, and He is not constrained to operate according to our preferences. He cannot be controlled. “He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold? He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow” Psalm 147:16-18.

So rather than being surprised next time that human meteorologists failed to predict the will of God, let it be a reminder of who God is and who we are, and let the snow and ice move you to humility and worship before Him who is completely above us in every way, yet in Christ, came near to bring us to Himself.