One time I was asked by someone of the well-being of a person, of whom, we were both acquainted. I knew the person under question was not feeling well, and said, “[So and so] is under the weather.” To which, this other person joked, “Aren’t we all under the weather?” Right you are.
We are all under the weather. How then do we respond to the blue Mondays, the terrible Tuesdays, the wicked Wednesdays, the trying Thursdays, the frightening Fridays and the sad Saturdays?
To respond is to be composed. God desires we possess a spiritual poise to deal with whatever is unsettling. This promise, presence and peace come to us in this: “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)” God’s Word directs and leads us to respond to the ebb and flow of whatever happens on this side of heaven.
Without God’s Word of light and life, what is under the weather? Our circumstances? Our time? Our spirits?
The percentage of Christians who read the Bible in North America is super slim. The American Bible Society along with the Barna institute did a study. In that study it was noted, if a person is not in the scriptures regularly around four days a week, it makes no difference in their life.
If you are reading this short devotion you’ve met the requirement of one of those four days. So how can you prepare for a blue Monday, a terrible Tuesday, a wicked Wednesday, a trying Thursday, a frightening Friday, or a sad Saturday, so that those days are no longer blue, terrible, wicked, trying, frightening or sad?
God’s Word is a lamp to your feet, a light to your path. If you are not in God’s word four days a week, it does not AFFECT you. Through the prophet Isaiah, God said: “I will not keep silent…I will not be quiet… (62:1)” God is not silent. He is not quiet. God speaks to you in the still small voice of His Word.
How is that word “affect” defined? 1) to act on and cause change in someone or something, and 2) to produce an emotional response in someone.
So, how does God’s word affect you? God acts upon you in that you act according to His good, perfect and pleasing will. This is how you respond well to the ebb and flow of life’s challenging moments. There is clarity in your circumstances. Your time is sanctified.
How does God’s Word affect you? Do you feel down? Sad? Under the weather? God speaks to you in His Word to produce an emotional response of contentment, joy, confidence and peace. Your spirit is uplifted.
Our incarnate Savior chose to be “under the weather” upon the cross. This He did to present you unblemished by His sacrifice. He turned death into life, as He went from death to life. When “under the weather” this is how you have a Savior who comes to all your circumstances, to every moment, to speak light into your darkness.
You are not forsaken. Jesus delights in you. You are not desolate. The Holy Spirit breathes life into you. The once wasteland of your soul has become the fertile paradise of the spirit of God.
God is true blue. Blue is the colour of the sky in nature. Blue came to symbolize constancy and lack of change, which led to the phrase “true-blue.”
God is true-blue. He is constant in His love of you. Then your “righteousness goes forth as brightness, [your] salvation as a burning torch. (Isaiah 62:1)” You are bright and burning in the light of His blessing. •
— Pastor Neil Stern
St. Peter’s, Leduc AB