Heat getting to you? Wonder how you’re going to get through August? Giving thanks for your air-conditioning? (Dr. Peale used to say that the biggest life-changing invention of the 20th century was the air conditioner.) Take cooling solace in these verses—and while you’re at it, a cooling glass of water.
1) As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night shall not cease. (Genesis 8:22)
This is the way God planned it, the seasons folding into each other. When I want to curse the heat, I think of how I will feel on a bitterly cold day—I might even miss the heat.
2) “…and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” (Matthew 10:42)
A hot day might offer a chance to cool yourself off as you cool someone else off. Think what a cup of cold water would have meant in Jesus’ time, as close as you could get to air conditioning.
3) Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. (Psalm 19:6)
Sometimes I remind myself that God is in the heat (as I take refuge in the shade). After all, where does the heat come from? The sun, of course, and we would all whither and die without it. Just as nothing is hid from God, nothing escapes the sun’s rays.
4) Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. (Proverbs 25:25)
Jesus is the good news, and He is ready to fill all thirsty souls. Yes, check the weather. Be prepared. On a hot day I go out for my morning (slow) jog first thing, before the worst of the heat kicks in, but that’s not all my thirsty soul requires.
5) They shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. (Isaiah 49:10)
Just when you want to say, “I can’t last another day in this heat,” remember the One who has pity on us and guides us no matter the weather or the season. Those cooling springs of water are nearby, no matter what. Look for them. And thank God for that air conditioning too.
