Waking up to rain and 72* in July in Mississippi is a blessing of mercy from our Creator. Thank you, Lord. According to the earlier radar, there were three wet systems headed straight for Rankin County. They seem to have morphed into one large system and one small one. We may get a soaker, yet. I just hope the Texas floods don't come with it.

I always hesitate to thank God for the good weather without wondering how that same merciful God allows catastrophic weather. Seeing his hand only in the good weather and not the bad seems rather hypocritical to me. Jesus said the sun rises on good and evil alike, the rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous. In other words, don't read more into it than is there. Those who were quick to blame the gays in New Orleans for Katrina were, I believe, very short-sighted. The Apostle Paul struggled with this issue, too:

What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. (Romans 9:14-16)

He goes on to say we shouldn't question God about his seemingly capricious nature. In the previous chapter, he says that those who love God will see good in whatever happens, no matter how catastrophic the situation may be.

Gracious God, the comfort of all who sorrow, the strength of all who suffer: Let the cry of those in misery and need come to you, that they may find mercy present with them in all their afflictions; and give us, we pray, the strength to serve them for the sake of him who suffered for us, your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. (BCP)