This morning (so early that no one should be thinking deeply or pondering the eternal questions of life) I read an article by Fox News which posed the question, "If God is real, Why did He not Stop the Storms?" And I braced myself to read the comments. Comments that said things like one of them who succinctly put it, "Because he does not exist"...There were some comments that offered bad theology and there were many comments that spewed anger and hatred--a lot of energy expended on someone who was "not there."
My pastor in church on Sunday said that anyone who believes that God played any role in those storms as being causative or a form of judgement did not know the God of love and compassion. Do I think that God sat down and said, "Yeah, the bars in Houston are too full on Saturday nights and the churches are too empty on Sunday mornings....I think I'll wash Houston off the map." NO, nothing like that. I do not think that God was thinking of any one person or group of people to pour upon His wrath. HOWEVER, I do believe that God designed this created Earth with an end in mind. He did not want this sin corrupted planet infected with death, disease, and savage cruelty to go on forever. In His mercy for His children He built an end ...a period on the sentence whose subject is "Earth"...so that he could introduce a NEW Earth, one free of the horrors we see almost daily now, upon this planet.
It has been said in science that things, when left to themselves, will proceed from complex to simple...in short, that all things on their own will wind down to an end...that this created Earth has built in limits on its longevity. God designed it that way because He knew when He made it, that mankind would made wrong, sinful choices and that would botch up His intended desires for mankind. God desired (and still does) to give His creatures the choice to love Him or to hate Him and do whatever their sinful hearts and bodies desired OR to decide to obey His laws. And then to take those who chose to love Him...even in the face of pain, heartache and disaster...to a newly designed creation. One in which sin and death could not and would not taint.
Yes, the end is near. As storms and natural disasters increase, so will the savagery of man...and those who step back and take an honest look will have to know, that something is going on! A climax is about to occur. And so it will. But only after wars and racism and hatred and plagues of illness have had their say and their "day in the sun"....and the sun itself will cease to shine. Stars will fall from the skies...and God has given mankind chance after chance to see the writing on the wall. God is trying to tell us--after writing it out all clearly in the Bible for us didn't get our attention--"Heads up people....the end is around the corner. Are you sure you don't need me...yet?" Every flood. Every earthquake. Every child dying of starvation..Every cancer, etc. etc. ALL POINT TO ONE THING: Things here on earth are bad and they are getting worse and our time is running out.
Look around you. "The signs of the times." What does that phrase mean? It means God has designed thing on earth to be signs that people can read in order to be able to hear God's messages to us about the time in which we live. In Romans 1 it says that Nature itself gives evidence of a Creator so even if we live in the farthest jungle we are without excuse...we are responsible only for the amount of knowledge we have been given. And the Creation speaks about a Creator. And now, in these times we see that something big is happening. It's just around the corner.
And you, children of God in TX and FL who have been through heartache, hardship and loss---have you not seen ways that God has worked in all of this to meet your needs, keep you safe? That, on the perspiring face of every volunteer that has gone there to help, the love of Jesus smiles. That they are His hands of help to YOU, His beloved ones. Maybe you lost relatives or a home you worked hard to purchase....baby pictures, antiques, paintings...all gone. We cannot pretend to fathom the depths of God puposes...but we can glean from Scripture about His character... that He is a God of love, mercy, compassion, justice, wisdom, forgiveness. Sometimes, as I have learned in my life that He leads us through a wildfire in a dark night...He leads us by the hand...He alone know the path out...All we can do is to trust the wisdom of His leading and the fact of His mercy and love for us. After all, He, Himself entered the burning forest and came to lead His beloved out. Yes, it's mighty hot in those woods...and very dark. But He is our only hope. The only one who has entered the forest to rescue His people.
I had cried out to God --as many did--"God where are you? Why didn't you direct that storm back out to sea for good?" I had prayed--as I pray about every pending storm, "God keep us safe. Don't let this storm hit us" and I thought, "Do I really think that there were no prayers offered up in Houston by God's people who have His ear as much as I? Why did God spare me and why did God not save them?" And God comforted my heart with the phrase "Individual mercies." God did not spare the entire state but He made sure that His people got what they needed --and I'm sure there were some amazing stories of God's provision there. And the people I've talked to online spoke of the awareness of His presence and their sense that the rest of the country was praying for them. And from their lips poured out gratitude and this was also true of Hurricane Irma victims in Florida.
God works within this declining planet....He saves. He provides. And sometimes....yeah, sometimes often, ...there are night of sleepless, lonely pain that does not abate or relent. I have night like this. These are my own Harveys. And it is in the times of deepest pain that I'm most aware of His love for me and presence with me. Individual mercies. God meets His people at the greatest place of their need but that is often IN the storm. In the pain. In the heartache. Where was God? He was right there...holding your hand.
My pastor in church on Sunday said that anyone who believes that God played any role in those storms as being causative or a form of judgement did not know the God of love and compassion. Do I think that God sat down and said, "Yeah, the bars in Houston are too full on Saturday nights and the churches are too empty on Sunday mornings....I think I'll wash Houston off the map." NO, nothing like that. I do not think that God was thinking of any one person or group of people to pour upon His wrath. HOWEVER, I do believe that God designed this created Earth with an end in mind. He did not want this sin corrupted planet infected with death, disease, and savage cruelty to go on forever. In His mercy for His children He built an end ...a period on the sentence whose subject is "Earth"...so that he could introduce a NEW Earth, one free of the horrors we see almost daily now, upon this planet.
It has been said in science that things, when left to themselves, will proceed from complex to simple...in short, that all things on their own will wind down to an end...that this created Earth has built in limits on its longevity. God designed it that way because He knew when He made it, that mankind would made wrong, sinful choices and that would botch up His intended desires for mankind. God desired (and still does) to give His creatures the choice to love Him or to hate Him and do whatever their sinful hearts and bodies desired OR to decide to obey His laws. And then to take those who chose to love Him...even in the face of pain, heartache and disaster...to a newly designed creation. One in which sin and death could not and would not taint.
Yes, the end is near. As storms and natural disasters increase, so will the savagery of man...and those who step back and take an honest look will have to know, that something is going on! A climax is about to occur. And so it will. But only after wars and racism and hatred and plagues of illness have had their say and their "day in the sun"....and the sun itself will cease to shine. Stars will fall from the skies...and God has given mankind chance after chance to see the writing on the wall. God is trying to tell us--after writing it out all clearly in the Bible for us didn't get our attention--"Heads up people....the end is around the corner. Are you sure you don't need me...yet?" Every flood. Every earthquake. Every child dying of starvation..Every cancer, etc. etc. ALL POINT TO ONE THING: Things here on earth are bad and they are getting worse and our time is running out.
Look around you. "The signs of the times." What does that phrase mean? It means God has designed thing on earth to be signs that people can read in order to be able to hear God's messages to us about the time in which we live. In Romans 1 it says that Nature itself gives evidence of a Creator so even if we live in the farthest jungle we are without excuse...we are responsible only for the amount of knowledge we have been given. And the Creation speaks about a Creator. And now, in these times we see that something big is happening. It's just around the corner.
And you, children of God in TX and FL who have been through heartache, hardship and loss---have you not seen ways that God has worked in all of this to meet your needs, keep you safe? That, on the perspiring face of every volunteer that has gone there to help, the love of Jesus smiles. That they are His hands of help to YOU, His beloved ones. Maybe you lost relatives or a home you worked hard to purchase....baby pictures, antiques, paintings...all gone. We cannot pretend to fathom the depths of God puposes...but we can glean from Scripture about His character... that He is a God of love, mercy, compassion, justice, wisdom, forgiveness. Sometimes, as I have learned in my life that He leads us through a wildfire in a dark night...He leads us by the hand...He alone know the path out...All we can do is to trust the wisdom of His leading and the fact of His mercy and love for us. After all, He, Himself entered the burning forest and came to lead His beloved out. Yes, it's mighty hot in those woods...and very dark. But He is our only hope. The only one who has entered the forest to rescue His people.
I had cried out to God --as many did--"God where are you? Why didn't you direct that storm back out to sea for good?" I had prayed--as I pray about every pending storm, "God keep us safe. Don't let this storm hit us" and I thought, "Do I really think that there were no prayers offered up in Houston by God's people who have His ear as much as I? Why did God spare me and why did God not save them?" And God comforted my heart with the phrase "Individual mercies." God did not spare the entire state but He made sure that His people got what they needed --and I'm sure there were some amazing stories of God's provision there. And the people I've talked to online spoke of the awareness of His presence and their sense that the rest of the country was praying for them. And from their lips poured out gratitude and this was also true of Hurricane Irma victims in Florida.
God works within this declining planet....He saves. He provides. And sometimes....yeah, sometimes often, ...there are night of sleepless, lonely pain that does not abate or relent. I have night like this. These are my own Harveys. And it is in the times of deepest pain that I'm most aware of His love for me and presence with me. Individual mercies. God meets His people at the greatest place of their need but that is often IN the storm. In the pain. In the heartache. Where was God? He was right there...holding your hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment