Should We Pray For Sunshine?

As a self-employed domestic window cleaner, one of the biggest problems that plagues the business is wet weather. Over the years, I have learnt to overcome much of this problem, although there were, and will always be, days lost due to heavy or blustering rain. During the Summer, lost time is often made up by working later into the evenings. But during Winter, with limited daylight hours, lost time cannot be compensated for, resulting in loss of income. Therefore, keeping constant track of the daily forecast had always been essential for planning and running the business. And not to mention "fair weather clients" - customers who believe that cleaning their windows is not worth the fee I ask for, due to threats of rain, even if it's dry at the time I knock on their doors. Believe me, they can be a pain in the neck.

 

At our fellowship, Ascot Life Church, we have sung on occasions a song which contain the lyrics:

Let it rain, let it rain, let the rain fall on us...

And you know what? Following such Sundays when this song was included in the worship agenda, I have indeed faced a wet working week, more than once! But this song was about spiritual rain, the rain of the Holy Spirit into our lives so others can see the power of Christ within us. And that is where, I believe, the songwriter had got his priorities wrong. The song pleads, Rain on us. But I believe the correct lyrics should have been Rain on them, that is, the lost. The unsaved can only be redeemed through faith by means of the ministry carried out by the Holy Spirit taking place prior to conversion.

 

Lately, the song had become something of a standing joke between Dave, one of our Elders, and myself. Last weekend, we had a fete at a nearby school field, and the day began with a light shower. Fortunately the rain did not persist, and although a north-westerly breeze made us keep our woollies on, the day was a success, with a good turnout. And it was when I arrived at the school field during the shower when Dave asked me to "Rise to the challenge" and discuss whether it is right for Christians to pray for sunshine, or dry weather.

 

Not from Original Creation

 

Our present global climate was not part of original creation. In Genesis chapter one, we read that the waters being divided, with the upper waters forming a vapour canopy above the earth, while the waters below formed the oceans. Alongside this the narrator adds that, "The Lord did not cause it to rain upon the earth..."(2:5.) Therefore, the global climate must have been vastly different during antediluvian days than at present. It has been suggested that the vapour canopy caused the cloudless sky to appear red during the day, allowing the colours of all creation to appear more bright and intense. This seems to have been implicated by the fruit of the tree looking "pleasant to the eyes" (3:6) as well as providing universal warmth required for some species of fauna to grow to gigantic size, the well known Dinosaurs which must have roamed the planet during the days between Adam and Noah, if the historicity of the Bible is to be believed.

 

The Noachian Deluge was caused, as most scholars believe, by the collapse of the vapour canopy, together with the release of subterranean waters, probably under growing pressure by underlying magma, which too, breached the earth's crust as intense volcanic eruptions. The resulting ash cloud rising into the stratosphere causing the vapour to condense and fall as torrential rain, most likely were the mechanisms required to cause a universal deluge. After the Flood, and the time for Noah, his family and all the animals to leave the ark, Noah may have been aghast with the blue sky interspersed with clouds, seen for the first time ever. We can easily understand the fear Noah must have felt at the sight of rain, in case another Flood was on the way. The Covenant of the rainbow is strongly indicative of the vast change in climate, along with being caught in a sudden downpour, and the settling down of the new meteorological system which had not been present before the flood.

 

Statistics

 

The British are renowned for talking about our unpredictable weather. Often, comparisons are made between the UK climate and that of the Mediterranean, the most popular destination for British holidaymakers (vacationers) where Summers are hot and dry and Winters short and temperate. When in the last few years it had been cooler, warmer, wetter or dryer in the UK than normal, there were fears of a threat of a looming new Ice Age, Global Warming, or nowadays, Climate Change. But the latest meteorological graphs seem to indicate that the variance experienced in the weather pattern in the last few years had not strayed far from average. We Brits pine for the hot, dry summers enjoyed by those living on or around the Med. But as a whole, we are by no means the wettest country by a long shot!

 

My home town is Bracknell, about thirty miles west of London, and eleven miles east of Reading, our nearest city. According to statistics collected both from the Internet and from a world atlas, annual global average rainfall is 990 millimetres or 39 inches. In the UK, London and the South East are relatively dry, with 583 mm, or 23 inches a year, which is way below global average. In turn, Reading has up to 625 mm, allowing Bracknell with an approximation of 600 mm, or 24 inches. On the other hand, the Scottish city of Glasgow has an annual average rainfall of 1,205 mm, or 47.5 inches, or nearly four feet deep, which is 215 mm, or just over eight inches above the global average.

 

Worldwide, the statistics are wide. But although the Sahara is the driest area in the world, with an annual rainfall of just a few millimetres, there is far heavier rainfall along the Equatorial regions, such as in the central regions of Africa, which has an annual rainfall of up to 2,474 mm, or 97.4 inches. In turn, Borneo of Oceania has up to 4,974 mm, or 156 inches, while over Cherrapunji, north-east India, average annual rainfall between April and September is 10,922 mm, or 430 inches. But it can be argued that these regions have the monsoon season, with an interspersing dry season, making the weather fairly predictable. As here in Britain, weather is unpredictable with year round rainfall, yet the wettest region in the world with year round rainfall is probably Lloro, in the Choco district of west Colombia. This coastal strip which borders on to the State of Panama has an annual rainfall of up to 13,300 mm, or 523.6 inches. That is more than 43 feet. This sort of statistic certainly makes Britain look more like the Sahara!

I was fortunate when I visited Cairns in North Queensland in 1997. It is literally the wettest area of the whole of Australia, with an annual rainfall of 2,151.3 mm, or 84.7 inches. But like other Tropical regions, the Autumn month of March has 453.4 mm, or 17 inches of rain, compared to the dry Winter month of August, with just 35 mm, or 1.4 inches of rain. Although thick scudding thunderclouds sat over a nearby forested hill, throughout my five-day visit, the area remained dry enough to have made catamaran trips to the Great Barrier Reef possible. Cairns is a classic example of having tropical monsoon season-based climate with an alternate dry period.

Cairns Harbour, with cloud over a forested hill, North Queensland, 1997.


The Bible and Rainfall

The Bible rates rainfall as a blessing and among the temporal gifts of God. In this present fallen, post-diluvian world, the present meteorological climate system, with "the battle of the fronts" is the best system we can have to sustain life. Perhaps the key verse to this subject is Matthew 5:45, (KJV) which reads:

...That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makeeth the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

And this is over the Middle East, which has hot, dry Summers and temperate Winters, as with the rest of the Mediterranean. Yet in Leviticus 26:3-4, Moses wrote:

If ye (Israel) walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

This is repeated in Deuteronomy 11:13-14 which the promise of rainfall was conditioned on a whole heart love for God and obedience to his commandments:

And it will come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

Still further throughout the Old Testament, rainfall is conditioned by keeping God's statutes, such as Isaiah 30:22-23 where he wrote that if Israel repents of its idolatry, disposes of all its images, and serve God alone, then he will send rain to bring new life from the ground.

But there is a big problem if rainfall was conditioned upon the nation's obedience to God. This was highlighted in Psalm 14, where King David wrote that God looks down from heaven to see whether there is anyone who has an upright heart and loves God with all his soul, strength and mind. Instead, he sees that they are all corrupt, they have done abominable works, and there is none who does good, no not even one person. Nobody sought after God, nobody called upon him. Therefore, if rainfall was conditioned on commitment and loyalty to God and upon one's own righteousness, then the whole of mankind would have became extinct long before Jesus Christ came to atone for their sins! Therefore, in his grace, or undeserved favour, God sends rain anyway to sustain life. For example, Acts 14:17 reads:

Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

A confirmation from Job 5:10 which he says:

Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields.

Although in Psalm 65, King David was referring to national repentance of Israel towards God, something many scholars believe will happen in the future, his care for the land on a worldwide scale becomes obvious when we read verses 9-13, which is a good description of the planet at present (NIV):

You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with corn
for though you have ordained it.
You drench its furrows
and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers
and bless its crops.
You crown the year with your bounty
and your carts overflow with your abundance.
The grassland of the desert overflow;
the hills are clothed with gladness.
The meadows are covered with flocks
and the valleys are mantled with corn;
they shout for joy and sing.

This is certainly how much of the land around the world is at present, and that despite that the greater majority of the world's population do not know the Lord. Yet his sending of the rain to sustain life demonstrates the love of God to the world, as depicted in John 3:16, and his act of grace for life to survive. But there is more to all this. The reason for life as we know it to be sustained is really threefold:
1. For people to come to God through faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and inclusion into his coming Kingdom.
2. The establishment of churches worldwide so that communities of God's people can mingle among the rest of the population, providing a light and a witness to those who are lost.
3. God's everlasting covenant with Israel, not the covenant of works as laid down by Moses, but the eternal covenant of grace God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jeremiah chapters 30-32 gives a full prophecy of this Abrahamic Covenant, along with Ezekiel chapters 36-37, and Zechariah chapters 13-14.

Prayer for Sunshine?

As we had seen, rainfall is one of the temporal gifts of God, as opposed to the eternal gifts such as salvation and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Rain is essential to sustain us. But here in the UK, we have the tendency to compare our climate particularly with Mediterranean lands, and prone to envy their long, hot Summers. Little surprise that foreign holidays to these destinations have grown into one of the nation's largest and most profitable business. I once read a book written by an ex-Jehovah's Witness about us as mainstream Christians preparing ourselves should a couple of Witnesses knock on our door. She then concluded:
We should be ready to meet them. Instead we worry about next month's coach trip to Bognor. Don't we realise that there's a war on? 
Our worry over a day trip to Bognor was not based on the failure of the coach turning up, or suffering a breakdown halfway there, or for that matter, someone falling into distress while out bathing. Rather, with such a prospect of a day trip to the coast, the first thing we worry about is the weather.

It brings me back to last year in 2012, the year of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. I have wondered how many true believers have prayed that the day of the Pageant along the River Thames would take place in fine weather. I have wondered whether there were churches, particularly in London, who set time aside to pray for good weather on that day. The fact was that almost the entire Pageant took place under torrential rain.

On the day of the Ascot Life Church fete, or Fun Day as we call it, we were weary of the weather.  So is praying for sunshine biblical?

The only recorded occasion where the weather came under prayer was when God revealed to Elijah that there would be a forty-two month drought across Israel (1 Kings chapters 17-18). But this had nothing to do with a day trip to the coast! The drought was brought by God to bring backsliding Israel to repentance, particularly under the leadership of King Ahab. During the drought, Elijah was first fed supernaturally by ravens, then he lodged in the house of a foreign widow outside of Israel. It was during that time, when the land became parched dry and people began to go hungry, that he held a contest between the God of Israel and Baal, and his 450 prophets. After two altars were built and the fire came down supernaturally on God's altar, it was clear that the whole intent of the miracle, and the drought, was to bring the people back to faith in God.

And this could be the reason why some places, such as regions and various countries in Africa, suffer drought. To a certain extent, conditional rainfall based on obedience to God's statutes still apply. But more likely, it is to do with bringing the inhabitants to the knowledge of God through Jesus Christ. And what could be a better way for the Christian church to demonstrate their faith but to feed them, and provide clothing and other provisions. James the apostle was quite particular on this matter. In his letter, which mentions Elijah and the drought of his day, he emphasised that faith without works is dead, and therefore just saying to these Africans that they believe in God, and not showing any form of hospitality, will have no impact on their lives, and remain unimpressed with their Christian profession.

When the 42 months were complete, Elijah prayed seven times for rain to fall, and at the conclusion of the seventh prayer, a cloud was seen above the horizon which led to a heavy downpour a short time later. But the miraculous change of weather, meant to have brought King Ahab to faith in Israel's God, instead led to the betrayal of the prophet to the wrath of Queen Jezebel, Ahab's wife, for the slaughter of the 450 prophets of Baal.

Elijah's prayer over the weather is in line with all other miracles found in the Bible, to bring people to faith in God and his salvation. The raising of Lazarus by Jesus, recorded in John 11, was a good example, with Jesus explaining the main reason for the miracle, which is for the crowds to see for themselves that Jesus is the Messiah and therefore to believe, and have eternal life - verses 41-42. In fact, John himself had concluded his whole Gospel with the explanation that all the works Jesus had done, and were recorded were so we would believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and by believing, we can have life in his name (John 20:30-31.)

So should we pray for sunshine, or at least dry weather, for a church to hold an outdoor event? No, I don't think we should. But by his grace, God does at times answer prayer on this matter, as he did on our Fun Day. But it it happens to rain on the special day, then rather than blame God, we should look upon our motives. If the event is church-centred, chances are that it could still rain on the day. Rather, God will only manipulate the weather according to our prayers if such intervention is necessary for the saving faith of a person or a group of people - as was the case with Elijah, and of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

Oh well, after all that, it's Crete later this year - God permitting...

England Goodbye...

This blog I decided to write after numerous patriotic symbols of England were posted on Facebook, on the run-up to St Georges Day.
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Of my travel experiences, most but not all, were done solo, as that was the way I would have preferred to travel, as testified in previous blogs. But it can be exhilarating to share the experience with one other person. And really, this is as far as I would go - since we have committed ourselves to each other, while three or more would have been a crowd. Such was the time Gary (name changed) and I successfully completed the End-to-End cycling tour southbound from one end of mainland Great Britain to the other in 1990.

The traditional route would have been 874 miles long, but since we did not stick to the official route, but detoured at various places, especially looking for our hostels to spend each night, I would have not been too surprised if we covered closer to a thousand miles in less than two weeks. Each daily leg of the journey was different, and each unique in distance, terrain and weather conditions. In all, if we were to average out even just nine hundred miles over twelve days, this would have brought about 75 miles of cycling a day.



This did not come overnight. In preparation for that holiday, I completed a number of cycling "burn-ups" - fast rides done mostly early Sunday mornings averaging between 25 and thirty miles, along with cycling trips to the coast (up to sixty miles) and Triathlons (Swim, Cycle and Run within one race).

Farnham Triathlon, 1987

Many in my church were impressed with our coming endeavour (Gary attended another church elsewhere.) But teasing came in the form of "Downhill all the way" as we were about to cycle from John O'Groats on the northern tip of Scotland, to Lands End, on the western tip of Cornwall - in other words, the whole journey in the southerly direction. One guy, a devout Englishman who loved his suit and tie, got rather serious with this "Downhill all the way" that I got rather tired of hearing it. Even Gary was confused at one point and I recall, during a coffee stop at a cafe, explaining that the centre of gravity was at the Earth's core, not at the Equator or the South Pole - something I had already known from childhood. I guessed that the "Downhill all the way" idea was gotten after watching water being poured over a sphere, and running down the surface to the underside of the sphere and dripping off the South Pole area. With our planet "hanging upon nothing" in space, and its gravity at its core, little surprise that whenever the road headed skyward, we always found the pedalling a lot more difficult!

After spending the first few days cycling through Scotland, we arrived at the border with England. The A7 main road passed two signboards - one was the massive "Welcome to Scotland" sign, which towered well above our heads. The other, almost directly across the road, was a much smaller sign which simply read, "England" which was low enough to be at chest level.

The contrast between the two signs seemed to have reflected the level of pride between the two nations. Whenever Scotland celebrates its annual St Andrews Day, there is that festive buzz in the air, so I read. Last week we had our St Georges Day on April 23rd. Not only was it a working day, but was just as any other working day of the year. Not a bunting could be seen anywhere, people drove to their offices with glum faces as they always do. Traffic congestion build up then dissipates as more arrive at their destinations. Trains full of silent commuters, not a word spoken, far less a greeting. At the office, computer keyboards are at constant use, phones ring and trading gets underway. Just another day. But at least the city of Nottingham managed to put on a street show with plenty of flags and bunting. But then again, Nottingham is somewhere up north, where according to my experience, people up there talk to each other. Here in the South of England there is as much charisma as in a wet blanket.

Newspaper journalists love to boast of our stoicism, the stiff upper lip, our self control over our emotions which are all hallmarks of being English. According to them, to show emotion, or having a trembling lower lip, is a sign of weakness. One Daily Mail reporter even insist that true masculinity had dissipated since the death of Princess Diana in August 1997. We have, according to them, became a sentimental, mawkish, weepy society, especially when TV presenters or interviewees shed a tear on camera over a crisis or tragedy. I often wonder why the English have such an obsession with stoicism, but I came to the belief that it has all to do with our cool temperate climate.

 

A good example was last week. Much of the week was bathed in warm, pleasant sunshine with temperatures soaring to twenty degrees Celsius. Supermarkets reported a brisk trade in barbecue items in preparation for the weekend. Come Friday and a cold front from the north moved south towards the Continent. Behind it, we shivered under a cold blast from the Artic and yesterday I was caught out in a heavy hail shower. In such unpredictable weather and scuppered plans, I think stoicism is necessary for keeping sane. Indeed, there will always be an England, even with such rubbish climate!

England, O England! A country which places so much emphasis on social class, higher education, the professionals and the adoration of celebrities. It looks to me that having a university degree is the be all or end all, a must in achieving, or our lives are not worth living. If ever there was a country where personal worth is evaluated by occupation, level of education, wealth, property and mode of transport, then the English seem to have a distinct knack of assigning a slot in the social ladder. For example, as a cyclist (I don't own or drive a car) I need to be weary of the "career girl" the free-spirited professional high-flier driving a two-seater sports car, paying little regard to such a vulnerable cyclist whose presence had forced her to slow down and raise her ire. I don't want to sound sexist here, but I have often found career women in their late twenties and thirties to be more aggressive behind the wheel - maybe having less patience when a cyclist, who shouldn't be there, makes an appearance. Don't get me wrong, a lot of male drivers require a lot to be desired as well when it comes to highway manners. Maybe that is why these days I ride slower, on the excellent cycle path system we have in our area, but even with this, England does not hold a candle to Holland, which to my opinion, have the best cycleway system in the world.

When someone like me has travelled the world, particularly around the Mediterranean, I have found that it becomes easier to compare Englishness to cultures of other countries. For example, in Sicily I have found residents sitting outside their open front doors chatting away with their neighbours. Walk along a typical residential street and I would walk past lines of happy, chattering people and children playing.  Here in England, in the South (i.e. in the Home Counties bordering around London) there are quiet, almost deserted streets under this constant air of melancholy, which is tied in with the well-familiar saying, "Mustn't grumble" as if there was much to grumble about. Our lousy, unpredictable weather certainly doesn't help, making outdoor life a rare thing to be seen. While I was backpacking in Australia, it was not unusual to see public, coin-operated barbecue stoves permanently set up in city parks. Try finding these here. Such an outdoorsy sort of lifestyle would not be suitable in our climate and matching culture.

Yet England does have beautiful natural places which I'm sure, would, delight the eye of the beholder. One of my favourite areas is the Jurassic Coast Path, particularly from Swanage to Weymouth in Dorset. Here dynamic cliffs provide spectacular views of the coast including the famous Durdle Door rock formation.

Other beautiful places visited also included the Lake District National Park, in the northern county of Cumbria. Notoriously wet, taking in such scenery can be quite difficult, even in the Summer. But on one occasion in 1992, Gary and I were climbing Scaffel Pike, England's highest mountain which was shrouded in thick fog. As we carefully hiked the well-marked trail, we were nearing the summit when this fellow was moaning as he was coming back down.

"Several times I have climbed to the top and it was always shrouded in fog!" he declared as we passed him.

We pressed on until we arrived at the summit. Suddenly the fog began to lift, and as it did so, the whole of the panorama began to come into view. With steam rising in cloud columns, at first it looked a bit like a scene from Dante's inferno. Then the sun broke through to give us a magnificent view of the mountainous park, with Sty Head Tarn a couple of miles away as the crow flies.

No doubt, away from the sprawling suburbs, England does have its beauty, and as a believer in Jesus Christ, I have no problem in giving such credit to God's power in his handiwork. Yet also as a believer, our true home is in Heaven where there is not only a mansion being prepared for every believer, but even while we live here, we are already seated in Heaven, and Paul reminds us to set our minds on things above, where Christ is seated, rather than on things of the earth. Celebrating St Georges day is okay, but how much more are we to celebrate our redemption into God's Kingdom.

In Hebrews 11, there is a list of the Old Testament men of faith who has made it into this hall of fame. Within this list, the writer adds that if they wanted to, these guys could have returned to their homeland. Abraham was one good example. He was called out of Ur, in the region of Babylon, to live as a nomad in the desert land of the Canaanites, a people totally foreign to him. Some time ago, I read that in the ancient Babylonian culture, education was high on the list. Astrology along with mathematics were two of the most important subjects. Back there, children was taught the approximation of Pi, the square root, possibly the cubic root and all branches of geometry.

Shades of England.

But instead, Abraham and his fellowmen of faith looked forward to a city whose founder and builder is God himself. His longing for the promise was enough for him to leave behind his homeland and culture, and not knowing where he was going, allowed himself and his family to a nomadic lifestyle while remaining focused on God's promises.

Moses was another great example. With him, the writer of Hebrews emphasised that Moses preferred to suffer disgrace along with the people of God, that is, his fellow Hebrews, than to wallow in the Egyptian culture of the day. He too, was focused on the heavenly city God had promised, and he was willing to give up everything to be part of it. And it is interesting that ancient Egypt deified their monarch in much the same way as the English deify the Queen today. But as Moses and Abraham looked to better things God had promised, shouldn't we too?