SAVING DAYLIGHT!

SAVING DAYLIGHT!

Josh 10:11-14

11 And it came to pass, as they [the Amorites] fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord  cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.

12 Then spake Joshua to the Lord  in the day when the Lord  delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.

13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord  hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord  fought for Israel.

          Tomorrow night is another “daylight savings time” event. We will set our clocks, all eight or so of them plus the dash clocks in both vehicles and our watches, one hour ahead. I don’t know just how much daylight will be saved by doing this but it is always exciting in the spring because it means we can sit on the back porch a bit longer after dinner. It means Spring has finally arrived.

          There is an urban legend that claims that NASA accurately calculated the “about a day” anomaly in the 1960’s. Science seldom agrees with faith even under threat of violence and faith prefers it that way. However, I believe the sun – and therefore the moon – stood still so that Joshua could give the Amorites the thrashing they deserved. Even if you don’t believe the sun stood still there is ample archeological evidence of an Amorite thrashing.

                Benjamin Franklin originally conceived the idea for daylight savings time but laws mandating it were not put into place until World Wars I and II to save fuel for the war effort. In 1966 congress passed the Uniform Time Act creating the system that currently torments us twice per year. However, a 2008 Department of Energy report to Congress found that Daylight Savings Time does indeed save energy, though not as much as we'd hoped. According to the report, the total energy savings throughout the period of Daylight Saving Time add up to 17 Trillion Btu of primary energy consumption, which is only .02 percent of the country's total use in 2007.

          None of that explains how God could take aim at the enemy with great hail stones and not hit any of the Jewish soldiers in the process. It’s called a miracle folks! Miracles temporarily suspend the very laws that God has put into place. You have two choices. You can either believe or not but the Amorites were believers on that day.

Dear Lord, please provide for me both the time and the energy to accomplish your will for this day. AMEN