greenidlady1
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From the Daily Bread web site...
Is God in the Storm?
Comments by Mart De Haan
9/11 took us by surprise. Katrina, however, grew to hellish proportions before our very eyes. Modern technology allowed us to track this killer storm as she cut her first swath across southern Florida and then surged to catastrophic proportions in the Gulf. In the middle of our national loss, we now know where Katrina was going. But where did she come from?
In the midst and aftermath of immeasurable pain and loss, questions come to our minds. What are we to think about storms so horrific that insurance companies call them “acts of God”? Do these annual winds of destruction reflect the judgment of God? Are they the work of a powerful spiritual enemy? Or is the immeasurable heartbreak of stunned communities rooted only in the unfortunate convergence of natural events?
When faced with the devastation of killer storms, the timeless wisdom of the Bible offers help.
“Act of God” is misleading. When a violent storm devastated the life of a man named Job, he was left without answers. He didn’t know that because God regarded him as one of heaven’s most faithful friends, God allowed Job’s motives to be tested by a powerful enemy. The result is that Job thought God was directly tormenting him. Job’s friends in turn accused him of hiding some wrong that would explain his suffering. None of them understood the mingled mysteries of good and evil wrapped up in a “natural event.”
The reversals of life are not the time to judge the victims. Jesus had a conversation with His disciples about victims of disaster. He referred to two incidents in which a number of their countrymen had lost their lives. In the first event a number of Galileans had been killed by their Roman governor as they worshiped. In the second, 18 people died when a tower fell on them. With these tragic incidents in view, Jesus asked, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5).
The reversals of life can drive us to or away from God and others. Time has shown that some people eventually come out of a natural disaster disillusioned and bitter. Yet others, ironically, discover that through their loss they have come to the end of themselves to find God and others in a way they had never known before. Such differences of outcome are a reminder that our responses to danger and loss tell us something about ourselves and our need of others.
If you would like more information about how the timeless and life-changing wisdom of God can strengthen us in the face of trouble, I’d encourage you to explore this subject with us in more depth through the following links...
How Much Does God Control?
http://www.rbc.org/ds/q0109/
When Tragedy Strikes
http://www.rbc.org/ds/cb042/
Why Would a Good God Allow Suffering?
http://www.rbc.org/ds/q0106/
What Trust Looks Like
http://www.rbc.org/td/10-2003/
Is God in the Storm?
Comments by Mart De Haan
9/11 took us by surprise. Katrina, however, grew to hellish proportions before our very eyes. Modern technology allowed us to track this killer storm as she cut her first swath across southern Florida and then surged to catastrophic proportions in the Gulf. In the middle of our national loss, we now know where Katrina was going. But where did she come from?
In the midst and aftermath of immeasurable pain and loss, questions come to our minds. What are we to think about storms so horrific that insurance companies call them “acts of God”? Do these annual winds of destruction reflect the judgment of God? Are they the work of a powerful spiritual enemy? Or is the immeasurable heartbreak of stunned communities rooted only in the unfortunate convergence of natural events?
When faced with the devastation of killer storms, the timeless wisdom of the Bible offers help.
“Act of God” is misleading. When a violent storm devastated the life of a man named Job, he was left without answers. He didn’t know that because God regarded him as one of heaven’s most faithful friends, God allowed Job’s motives to be tested by a powerful enemy. The result is that Job thought God was directly tormenting him. Job’s friends in turn accused him of hiding some wrong that would explain his suffering. None of them understood the mingled mysteries of good and evil wrapped up in a “natural event.”
The reversals of life are not the time to judge the victims. Jesus had a conversation with His disciples about victims of disaster. He referred to two incidents in which a number of their countrymen had lost their lives. In the first event a number of Galileans had been killed by their Roman governor as they worshiped. In the second, 18 people died when a tower fell on them. With these tragic incidents in view, Jesus asked, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5).
The reversals of life can drive us to or away from God and others. Time has shown that some people eventually come out of a natural disaster disillusioned and bitter. Yet others, ironically, discover that through their loss they have come to the end of themselves to find God and others in a way they had never known before. Such differences of outcome are a reminder that our responses to danger and loss tell us something about ourselves and our need of others.
If you would like more information about how the timeless and life-changing wisdom of God can strengthen us in the face of trouble, I’d encourage you to explore this subject with us in more depth through the following links...
How Much Does God Control?
http://www.rbc.org/ds/q0109/
When Tragedy Strikes
http://www.rbc.org/ds/cb042/
Why Would a Good God Allow Suffering?
http://www.rbc.org/ds/q0106/
What Trust Looks Like
http://www.rbc.org/td/10-2003/
