God is present.

When Elijah was hiding in the mountains, he was visited by God. But God wasn't in the whirlwind, or the earthquake, or the fire. He was no more than a still small voice. The cataclysms that preceded Him were no clothing for Him, only His messengers. He does not wear nature; He created nature.

Rain and strong winds have been incessant around here lately. Trees have lost limbs and caught fire; the rain is visible and comes down at a sharp angle; it's cold and grey. And invariably, people complain about the weather.

I have to admit to doing so myself, just today. I said the weather was absurd, that it was fine for midwinter but shouldn't continue to plague us on spring's doorstep. Then I shrugged, and splashed through interminable puddles to my car, the wind lashing my back and sides as though I'd offended it.

Complaint comes naturally. We complain about everything, and sometimes we know we shouldn't, while at others we bury it beneath excuse and rationalization. But complaint is rebellion, a premeditated attack on the mercy, grace and abundance of our Saviour. A lack of gratitude, of praise, even of simple acknowledgement.

It is a lack of wonder.

One of the many responses God's presence commands is awe. Before Him, who can stand? and when He has passed by, who will remain? Yet there is a sense in which we are never out of God's presence, never out of His sight or reach or hearing. We enter His presence in a unique way during congregational worship, and in Heaven we will certainly be engulfed in His glory in ways not possible now, trapped as we are in earth and ignorance. But wherever we go, He's there.

Not in the sense pantheists would have us believe, or panentheists for that matter, but in the sense that He holds all things together, that He is the singularity of the universe around which everything revolves and to Whom all things submit.

He's in the wind, and the rain, and the frigid air. How can we complain about their presence? To do so is to complain about their Master, our Master, the sovereign of the elements, and that is not behaviour befitting His servants and His children. It is not an attitude of wonder, and it certainly isn't an attitude for mere mortals to entertain in the presence of Him who saves, judges, and rules all things.