26 DECEMBER

GOD MADE THE SEASONS

“All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made.”
(John 1:3)

On 26 December 2015, as we waited patiently for over eight hours for the harmattan haze to clear for our aircraft to fly, it was evident that this “extremely excellent and complicated” man-made “bird” is subject to God’s control, as all other things are.

I knew the huge benefits of the rainy season to plants, animals and man. I knew the adverse health effects of the harmattan to plants, animals and man. I knew the joys of the coolness of the harmattan to man. But I wondered about the benefits of harmattan to plants, animals and man. 
Yet, Genesis 1:31 declares, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

If God said it was very good then so it is! Did you know that the low temperature of harmattan is unfavourable to the breeding of mosquitos and so one of its health benefits to man is a lower incidence of malaria! Wow! In 2015, the World Health Organisation reported that sub-Saharan Africa had 89 per cent of malaria cases and 91 per cent of malaria deaths in the world!

Medical interventions have reduced malaria deaths by over 49 per cent between the year 2000 and 2015. Malaria costs an estimated $12 billion in lost productivity in Africa. Without the harmattan, I wonder? Without knowledge from God, I wonder?

ACTION:  Are there any ways God is actually blessing you through that person or thing that you consider good-for-nothing?  

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord for the seasons and times. Give me more knowledge, wisdom and patience to understand and appreciate your sovereignty.