“The same sun that melts butter hardens clay.”

That’s a catchy way of saying that it’s not what comes to me that matters most. It’s not what happens but how I respond that determines what happens next.

Been thinking about my own responses as I’ve encountered more heat. I have to say that although I’ve been in the Christian kitchen for a while, so to speak, I still can’t take the heat as well as I probably should.

The evil and the just get the same sun and same rain.  It’s not the climate but our response that’s telling.  A farmer  welcomes the rain as a blessing to the crops. A civil engineer whose road project already is behind schedule sees that same rain as a curse. Same weather, different reception.

The parable of the seed and the sower is a similar thing. Same seed falls on different types of soil. That seed gets the same rain and sun no matter the soil. The soil’s condition determines the outcome. 

What to make of all this? I’m thinking we Christians put a lot of pressure on God to produce certain outcomes. But truth is, no matter what God does or does not do, we own our responses to whatever He allows. 

My goal is to arrive at a place in my walk with Christ where whatever comes — heat wave or  relentless downpour — I can say as Paul said: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” 

Not there yet, but I’m on the journey!