Sodden Land and Sovereignty

You may have noticed that there has been a flood of flooding in Central Europe in the past week. Switzerland, Austria, and the Czech Republic, in particular were hard hit. We had friends staying in our flat (though we weren’t there) just prior to the beginning of the flooding and they reported that it rained the entire time they were there.

In 2002, Prague experienced flooding of historic proportions. Some of the high watermarks on the building near the Vltava River are amazingly high. This time the city was spared the worst of the deluge, although some surrounding villages were pretty hard-hit.

Now comes a report from climatologists (we believe everything they say, right?), that more of the same should be expected.   Czech climatologist Radim Tolasz states that, “The climate and weather conditions in central Europe are changing and in the Czech Republic, too. Since the end of the 20th century, since the 1990s, we have been observing a wet period in this part of the world. That’s the reality nowadays in the Czech Republic, and the results are apparent: today, we have big floods.” (See story here).

It is my expectation that the “Global Climate Change” (AKA “Global Warming”) crowd will make hay out of this type of report. “See we told you, “ will be their mantra. They will, of course, totally ignore the fact that there was (at least) one ice age and that we no longer live in that climate period. They will not take into account the fact that there were no autos or other man-made machinery about causing rampant explosions of greenhouse gasses.

I appreciate the stance taken by Tolasz. He says that we need to accept the reality of a “wet period” in Central Europe and prepare countermeasures like dams and flood plains. If nothing else, these catastrophic weather events ought to point us to the fact that we, mankind, are not sovereign. Science has not conquered climate.

The Bible teaches about preparation in several different manners. Of course, we are to prepare for the day of judgement (for just one example, see Matthew 24:44). But, there are physical needs that must be seen to as well. Just a couple of examples can be seen in the Book of Proverbs. Proverbs 6:6 tells us to take measures against famine. Proverbs 27:12 states that the wise prepare for trouble, but the foolish just coast along and suffer in the end.

God expects us to do what we can to feed and protect ourselves, while, at the same time, trusting Him. It can be a hard - and scary - balance at times. I say, pray while you’re building dikes and dams.