Seasons

As we all know living here in western Montana, the weather changes fairly drastically on a seasonal basis. Sometimes it changes even much quicker - like recently when it went from snowing one day to sunny and warm a day later. We live in an area that has some of the most dramatic seasonal changes - about an hour drive from here is the location of the coldest ever recorded temperature in United States outside of Alaska - Rogers Pass recorded -70 Fahrenheit (F) in 1954. And only a few hours farther to the east but still in Montana, Glendive and Medicine Lake have both recorded high temperatures of 117 F.

We know that our weather can change quickly from one moment to the next, and certainly changes considerably from one season to the next. And I think this is a contributing factor to why we choose to live here in Seeley Lake - we like the distinct and varied seasons, and we like being able to count on the seasons coming and going throughout the year in an orderly (usually) fashion.

Now, some would take a view that God created the universe, set things in motion, and now is just sitting back watching His creation, only occasionally intervening in its happenings. But this is not a biblical view; rather, the Bible clearly says that God sustains all things; He upholds the universe and the laws of the universe which make the seasons here in Seeley Lake reliable.

Hebrews 1:3a says “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

Similarly, Colossians 1:17 states, “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

It is because of God upholding the universe and holding all things together that we can count on the laws of nature such as the law of gravity and the law of thermodynamics. These laws are not the product of random chance processes but are intentionally created to give order to the universe. It is these laws that give us the ability to do science - to perform experiments expecting to get the same result over and over again; to study the world around us expecting to find order and consistency, and it is these laws that give us the ability to know that winter will end (eventually), spring will give way to summer, summer will move out for hunting season and hunting season will usher in winter.

Thank God for the order that He has given to the world He has made for us to live in!