For several years I had a free literature table in the university’s student union. My son-in-law Chase and our friend Dom continue the practice each Tuesday from 12 till 2. Those who visit find them winsome and engaging.
It’s intended to spur students to set aside their studies of The Societal Impact of Taylor Swift, The Intricacies of Cannabis Biology, and The Geometry of a Boiled Egg to think about life’s vital issues.
I was having a friendly chat with several students one day when a big, blustery fellow appeared. “Christians use the word ‘God’ for everything they don’t understand about the universe,” he said with a large dose of unwarranted certainty.
“They thought rain was the angels weeping, and, when they didn’t know what thunder was, they said it was God stomping around in hobnailed boots.”
At this point, I assumed he was regurgitating someone else’s argument. You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone under age 40 who even knows what a hobnail is.
“Sorry,” I responded a little brusquely, “is that a joke or an argument?” His scowl told me he was trying to be serious.
“All right then,” I continued, “let me read you this: ‘Look, God is greater than we can understand. His years cannot be counted. He draws up the water vapor and then distills it into rain. The rain pours down from the clouds, and everyone benefits. Who can understand the spreading of the clouds and the thunder that rolls forth from heaven?’ (Job 36:26-29, NLT)
“So there you have it. The hydrologic cycle recorded in the first book written in the Bible—the book of Job, penned over 4,000 years ago.
“Evaporation. Condensation. Precipitation. Absorption. But nothing about the angels weeping or God in hobnailed boots.”
Now it isn’t that the Creator takes NO interest in the functioning of His breathtaking creation. It’s true that He has made a world that operates so seamlessly it appears to be self-sustaining. The laws continue to function day-in, day-out, with a precision and dependability that we rely on.
However, He CAN intervene whenever and wherever He desires. We have a large room on the back of our house that was converted from a garage. It has a separate heating unit. I set the thermostat and let the equipment function as it was designed.
But, as lord of the manor, am I free at any time to adjust the temperature? I can, and do. When the machinery runs on its own, it’s still under my control. I prove that whenever I choose to adjust the settings.
This is just a little illustration of God’s interaction with our planet. Does He set every rainbow in the sky? Maybe not, but He certainly did the first one (Genesis 9:13). The Bible makes it clear that God can send and withhold rain to get our attention (Amos 4:7-8), stop armies with snowflakes (Job 38:22-23), and humble the proud with an earthquake. (Isa 29:6)
I’ve only had one story published in Reader’s Digest. It concerned a farm boy whose professor said, “During the Dirty Thirties, your parents prayed for rain, and what did they get? The Dust Bowl! Now we just send up a plane and seed the cloud to get rain. There’s no question about that, is there?”
“Yes, there’s a question,” responded the student. “Who provides the cloud?”
Article published November February 6, 2026 in the Commercial Dispatch.