Seasons

Robert Percey

I've recently been reminded of a verse in the Bible about "seasons". In Genesis 1:14, it says, "And God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years.'"*

By these words you may wonder just what I'm about to say.

Since January, those of us in Australia have been reading or watching on TV about the situation the country, and even the world, is in and how our governments are going to fix it.

Rains in Queensland that have flooded towns, stock markets crashing, bushfires that have destroyed dwellings and even New South Wales, my home state, has had rain that has caused a town to go underwater. At the same time, Adelaide is asking where the rain is.

I have been flying to Adelaide regularly since January and on my first trip, I looked out the window of the plane and I saw the ground like a desert. There were also green patches scattered around like autumn leaves that seemed out of place. And then you have the 40 degrees heat wave.

On the TV show, Today Tonight, a guy from USA said that God is cleansing Australia with fire because we are evil.

I know that it says in the Bible, "Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah-from the Lord out of the heavens" (Genesis 19:24).  However, are we to say that this is from God?

No, because God has said we do not know the hour of his judgment.

Then there is the stock market crashing and people worried about their future and how they will live. I'm one of the people looking at our future, finances and work.

But as I sit here and write these thoughts down I have been blessed. As we think of our fellow countrymen who have lost homes as they battle fires, heat, floods and an uncertain future, I know God has a plan for it all.

So, what is God's plan for us?

It is to show the love of a living God, that he sent his Son to die on the cross.

We are a country that is hurting and it's our time to show love to the people who need some hope in their lives.

*All Bible quotations are from the New International Version.