Fair Weather Friend

I never realized how much of a “fair weather” friend I am. Maybe you are also. Let me explain.
Recently I was checking out the local shore forecast and meteorologist Dan Skeldon had the audacity to tell me that it was going to rain on my day off which I also planned to be a great day out.
“No way can it rain!” I shouted at Dan as if he could hear me.
“Let’s see what your competition has to say,” I challenged him as if he would care anyway. 
So I changed the channel and waited for Cecily Tynan’’s take on the barometric pressure trying to puncture my paradise balloon. “Besides, she is much better looking anyway,” I smirked.
I liked what I heard as AccuWeather with its remarkable accurate advanced system had pinpointed only the slightest chance of precipitation in our backyard.
“I liked the second report better,” I reasoned.  I even texted New York meteorologist Amy Freeze to see what she had to say, and everyone knows that two weather gals beat one weather man no matter how the cards are dealt.
Then I quipped, “who trusts a man wearing hairspray and make-up anyway? Is he a model or a meteorologist?” As always, God had a way of teaching me another life lesson through my daily living. I am convinced that in every experience, the Voice from Eternity has something of value to impart to us. And in my mission to get the weather forecast I desired, the Lord hit me with the reality of how I can more often than not become nothing more than a fair-weather friend. 
Whoever offered the best weather report was my authority for that day.  Whoever told me what I wanted to hear would grab my allegiance and my vote as “weather guru of the year.” I’m sure that this wasn’t the first time I had ever done this, continuing to search stations until I got the status that I wanted to hear. I keep playing with the remote of life until I find someone who gives me the biggest entertainment value at the lowest cost to my heart and soul.
Here is the worst part. 
Much too often, we do the same thing with God.  We go to Him for guidance, a word of encouragement or direction, some sign of what we should do with life and when He doesn’t tell us what we want to hear, we just play musical preacher. 
We may rationalize, “I didn’t get the answer from Him that I thought I would have received so I guess I’m not that important to Him.” Or we think, “What I’m hearing can’t possibly be right, so I guess I’m not in tune with Him today.” Worse yet, we might even wander off looking for another voice, one which will take us in the direction that we always wanted to go in the first place, but unfortunately, totally opposite from where God would have liked to see us end up!
I can see how I’ve done that with the people who love me also.  When I’m struggling with things in my life, I turn to them for their input, but if they don’t say what I wanted to hear, I dismiss it as bad reception. The real point of today’s article is simply this:  while I can’t do a thing about changing the weather, although, like my friend, Cathy Johnson, I would order a ton more snow for our Cape May County winters;  I can do everything within my power to rearrange my life if I would only listen.
When I look up, more than just atmospheric conditions, I can see a God who loves me, and He is there for all of us through the fair and the stormy weather.
I hope this coming weekend is absolutely gorgeous; but if it is not, I think it is fair to say that God knows and is able to make it something beautiful anyway if we will only come to him no matter what the forecast.  Rather than being a fair-weather friend, why not just be a friend period.
That is the right outlook no matter what direction the thermometer may go, up or down. Perfect love tells us the truth even when it isn’t popular or easy to receive.
Real relationships are not built on fluff and decorative nonsense. Connection happens when we care so much that nothing could ever separate us from the touch that we all so desperately need.
The Bible has a way of giving us a heads up with what’’s around the corner.
I invite you to check it out and keep reading because if you want to be in a parade that lands in paradise, you have to survive the pitfalls along the way!