August 26, 2002  

GOD—THE GREAT BALANCER

Floods threaten lives and property from Europe to China. At the same time, drought continues to grip much of North Africa. In one edition of the LA Times a few weeks back, we could read of floods in Minnesota and drought in Texas. It seems there's either too much water or too little water. With both types of imbalance, people suffer.

These fluctuations in rainfall represent relatively minor variations in water supply. Geological records show that the world has known times when huge seas covered areas that are now deserts. And in some areas, water froze into great glaciers that formed ice caps at the earth's poles. A balance in the amount and distribution of water on the earth is crucial to human survival.

God is the Great Balancer of all natural forces, including the supply of water. Listen to these poetic words, recorded by the author of the Biblical book of Job:

"Who shut in the sea with doors
when it burst out from the womb?—
when I made the clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band,
and prescribed bounds for it,
and set bars and doors,
and said, ‘Thus far shall you
come, and no farther,
and here shall your proud
waves be stopped'?"
(Job 38:8-11)

The seas, which cover two-thirds of the earth and hold most of its water, are seen as an offspring of God's creative activity. It "bursts out from the womb" of his mind. Clouds are its baby clothes. It grows rapidly, exuberantly, with awesome force. Who can contain the seas? God says, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther."

Job talks about other great forces in nature: thunder and lightening (37:2-5), the cold of winter (37:6-10), rainstorms (38:25-27), sunlight (37:21-22), the stars (38:31-33). Any of them could easily destroy humans, yet all of them are under God's control, reined in by him.

God's control of the earth's water supply is referred to in Job 37:16 as "the balancings of the clouds." God is the Great Balancer, making sure all the mighty forces of creation are kept in delicate adjustment to one another.

Job also has a word of revelation about why God sometimes lets the water supply become a little out of balance:
"Whether for correction, or for his land, or for love, he causes it to happen." (Job 37:13)

(1) Sometimes he allows too much or too little rain to fall for "correction," as a way of disciplining his people. Either a flood or a drought can cause sinful people to wake up and turn to God.

(2) His purpose may have to do simply with the needs of "his land," nourishing his natural creation. We have recently become concerned with ecology, referring to these as "environmental" issues. God loves "his land" even apart from the fact that it is the environment for human life. He has always been ecologically sensitive about his Creation.

(3) Many times his sending of rain may be seen as an act of love toward his people, gracing them with a good harvest. Or his love may cause him to stop the rain and dispel the clouds after severe downpours. He maintains a balance out of love for us.

God the Great Balancer has set a pattern for our lives as well. We must learn to control the extremes within us, our lusts, our imaginations, our ambitions. Self-control is our primary balancing act in living a fruitful life. We are called upon to "exercise self-control in all things" (1 Corinthians 9:25).

Part of our growth in Christian maturity is learning that everything in our life must be balanced. Our mind, body and spirit should all be cultivated so that we can be whole persons, fit for serving him. We can look to how the Great Balancer controls and coordinates natural forces as an example to follow in bringing our own lives into balance.

–Pastor George VanAlstine