It's Hot! - Pt 1

The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. (Deuteronomy 8:1-4 ESV).

Yep, it’s summer in Texas; and, it’s hot! Forget about Death Valley, Arizona, Nevada, Florida — none of them can measure up to Texas hot. We do like to be known for being the biggest and best in Texas, but this distinction of being the hottest may not be one to brag about. However, Texas alone has the right to be known as the hottest state in the nation. In Environmental Physiology, a book written by and for doctors who study how we adapt, or fail to adapt, to things like climatic conditions, it says: A review of worldwide effective temperature data for summer reveals that the Red Sea and the Indus Valley are the worst. In the United States the lower Rio Grande Valley and a section of the Gulf Coast are worst. These values are even worse than those for typical tropical areas, such as Devil’s Island in Guiana. And that’s in terms of “effective temperature,” which is not simply the reading on a mercury thermometer, but an index that takes into account humidity and air movement as well. There are a handful of other similarly sophisticated indicators—the discomfort index, the temperature-humidity index, desert equivalent temperature—all of which add up to the same conclusion: Texas, all climatic factors considered, is unquestionably the hottest. So, as is my custom, let’s see what the Lord has to teach us from our Texas summer. Our reading today recalls the instructions Moses gives to the nation of Israel as they ready themselves for the final steps in their long and often difficult journey to the Promised Land. It had been a journey of tests and paths of afflictions that God had taken them through for forty years. They had no real maps or directions to follow. Some of the time they did trust the manifestation of the Lord in the “cloud by day” and the “pillar of fire at night.” However, there were plenty of missteps and failures. Some of these failures were a result of their rebellious, stubborn character; and, some were simply because they didn’t know any better. Regardless, the message is that God never left them. That’s our message today as well. As “hot” as it might be in your journey right now, God is beside you. Turn to Him. He may not change the “weather,” but he will change you as you walk in it! Tomorrow we’ll look at this topic a bit more. I’ll have some principles for you to hold to as you seek some relief from the desert you have found yourself walking.