5 I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other;
7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.'
8 "Rain down, you heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness; Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, And let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it.
9 "Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' Or shall your handiwork say, 'He has no hands'?
10 Woe to him who says to his father, 'What are you begetting?' Or to the woman, 'What have you brought forth?' "
In light of the devastation that was caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton just a few short weeks ago, there has been some rather enthusiastic discussion about the ability of humans to actually "control" the weather. And, unfortunately, some of the verbage and vitriol in that area has been amplified, negatively impacting those who are in the profession of predicting the weather.
An article at GreenvilleOnline.com reported that Katie Nickolaou, a meteorologist at WLNS in Lansing, MI, had posted videos on social media regarding the subject...
...posted a screenshot of one of these social media interactions on X, formally known as Twitter. The caption accompanying the screenshot says. "Murdering meteorologists won't stop hurricanes. I can't believe I just had to type that." The screen shot shows a comment on one of Nickolaou's posts in which she says hurricanes are not man-made. The comment states, "Stop the breathing of those that made (the hurricanes) and their affiliates."Well, even though there are attempts at what is called, "weather modification," such as cloud seeding, if humans had the capability to "create" hurricanes, it seems they haven't been very successful, have they? North Carolina Representative Chuck Edwards is quoted in that article, stating: "Nobody can control the weather...Current geoengineering technology can serve as a large-scale intervention to mitigate the negative consequences of naturally occurring weather phenomena, but it cannot be used to create or manipulate hurricanes..."
And, a meteorologist in Greenville, South Carolina, rightly responded by pointing to the One who does have authority over the weather. The article says: "Greenville-based meteorologist Chris Justus posted on social media...responding to messages about human-controlled weather, of which he said he has received several. Justus, chief meteorologist with WYFF News, was one of several meteorologists reporting on the front lines during Helene." The article continues:
"I've been asked if the government or mankind in general is controlling the weather," the post says. "Let me clarify; I firmly believe God Almighty is the ONLY one in control. I've been asked, why didn't God stop the hurricane this week. There are many answers to that. Personally, I believe we are an imperfect world and unfortunately we also have an imperfect atmosphere that causes radical changes in our environment that results in severe weather."Justus went on to say: "The Bible offers many examples of storms, but also emphasizes God's protection in scripture. I believe Divine protection is at work for Western North Carolina, the mountains and the Upstate this week..."
Alabama-based meteorologist James Spann responded to the hoopla in a Facebook post, in which he said: "Professional meteorologists are tired. Another major hurricane has formed and is headed for the Florida Peninsula, so it will be another busy week." He appealed to potential posters saying, "We have a favor to ask. If you believe…(and he named several theories, such as:)
*The moon has disappeared and was nuked by the government
*Hurricanes are steered and controlled by “chemtrails” and HAARP, and
*Four more hurricanes are being “steered” into Florida this month.
Spann said, "Can you just keep it off this page? I am trying to push critical weather information out in a calm way; your rhetoric is a huge distraction we don’t need right now. I really don’t ask for much, but this would be very helpful."
Axios reported that: "Meteorologist James Spann told Axios...he began seeing an influx of threatening messages and conspiracy theories around the onset of Hurricane Helene." It added:- The threats include messages like "'stop lying about the government controlling the weather — or else,'" he said. Spann also noted that the harassment faced by young women in the field is even greater.
Level-headedness can be a virtue. And, if the ability of the government to control the weather is "misinformation" or a "conspiracy theory," then I think you should give scrutiny to a popular theory that appears whenever there is a destructive hurricane - how man-made "climate change" is impacting the weather and intensify hurricanes. The exaggerations regarding the state of the earth in the face of evil humans run rampant and have been used to craft extreme regulations and to scare people into compliance.
But, back to what Mr. Justus in Greenville had to say. We do live in a fallen world. And, the weather is imperfect and unpredictable. There are those that ask, in the face of natural disasters, how a good God could let that happen. But, while some would question God in the face of calamity, our position is to continue to trust Him, because, as Justus points out, the Bible also talks about God's protection. Even in our adversity, we can experience the goodness of God.
Certainly, we should be diligent to monitor the weather. And, people like these meteorologists are in a profession in which they are being relied upon to get it right as often as possible. But, the Bible also cautions us not to worry - we are to cast our cares upon Him. When disasters come, it gives us an opportunity to share the gospel and to bring the hope that Jesus provides.
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