There’s a storm brewing

James Cathcart October 02, 2023 2 1

Playlists

Add to Favourites

Save for later

Listen to this daily worship

Romans 8: 18-25 (NRSVA)

18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Yesterday I wrote about the cry of nature, the lament of Jeremiah’s question: How long must the land mourn? As we are tuning into the weather in this month’s theme we reflected on how we could read the extreme weather events of recent times in this light: as creation itself crying out against unjust exploitation of our earth’s resources for the minority at the expense of the majority.

But not all storms — literal or metaphorical — are bringers of devastation and calamity. Some storms bring upheaval and stress but also refreshment and renewal. Picture water coming to parched lands. Or imagine the close, heavy pressure of a long awaited storm dissipating as the clouds break. The figurative storms that blow through our lives, turning things on their heads, throwing us a-scatter, are not always wholly negative either — sometimes they invigorate and challenge us — reminding us that we’re alive and how precious that is.

Here in Romans Paul speaks about nature crying out, but this time in the context of labour pains, not at loss, but in expectation, in the birth pangs of something new. The more hopeful storms and upheavals we find, both in creation and in the midst of our lives, should always be taken seriously and never diminished or ignored — but Paul reminds us that despite the pain and hardship something new can be born too.

PRAYER:

Lord in Heaven,

There’s a storm brewing

But not all thunder wreaks havoc,

not all rain floods

and not all gales sweep everything away.

Some storms give more than they take

promise more than they threaten.

We still pray for shelter through these storms

but not shelters of terror

rather shelters of hope

ready for the onslaught of life

that comes in its wake.

Amen.