Hello Houston! We Got a Hurricane!
Barring a miracle, Houstonians are about to get hammered by a hurricane. Some folks are headed for the hills and some are battening down the hatch to ride it out. Everyone is a bit nervous.
In recent years there has been a lot of questions about storms, and a lot of silly ideas. Some blame it all on “natural causes”, removing God entirely from the equation. Others attribute it all to God’s anger, presuming that He is punishing sinful people. So what’s the answer?
Although many aren’t comfortable in pointing to God as the primary cause, the fact is He is. The Bible is very clear about the fact that God is in control of the weather. Nahum 1:3 says, “the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” Psalms 135:6-7 says, “Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in the earth, in the seas, and all deep places. He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.” So, like it or not, God is in control.
The truth of this is absolute, amazing, awesome, and advantageous—if we view from the proper perspective. Where we get into trouble is when we assume that we know why God does what He does. The fact is that we don’t usually know the reason for God’s actions and He isn’t obligated to tell us. What we do know is that God always has a good reason for what He does.
- It might be for the sake of demonstrating His power ( Ex. 9:14-16; 14:31)
- It might be to awaken folks to see their need of God.
- It might be to punish evildoers.
- It might be to test and strengthen the faith of believers.
- It might be for the sake of giving Christians an opportunity to manifest love by ministering to others.
Although we don’t know the exact reason why God allows catastrophes, we can take comfort in knowing that He does so for a purpose. God is working out a plan and, although we can’t see the finished product, we know it will be fulfilled. God devoted one entire book of the Bible, the book of Job, to this—It’s better to trust God than to try to understand Him. Think about it. Hang on Houston!
