Natural Disasters in the Wake of the Storm
Strong winds, Shaking earth, Hail, Rain, Thunder, and Cries from people wondering where God is. Being a Christian I am asked on a daily basis to explain the unexplainable in the hopes to show people Gods love. This topic however stumped me so I asked a youth minister for help. He told me that like the people in the world the physical world itself is over run with sin, and is in technical terms falling apart. God also has wrath that he can rightfully unleash on the world, but God is merciful and in many cases Natural Disasters give Christians the opportunity to witness to others and help them after the storm passes. Natural Disasters could also possibly be Gods way to control the population, natural birth control. Don't take everything i am saying with 100% truth because honestly this is one topic i am not completely sure about and could not find enough scripture to back up my opinions here. Everyone has a purpose in life and some peoples purpose is to help those in need so when natural disasters do occur it is our job as Christians to show people Gods love. Horrible things happen to great people all the time even devout Christians die in horrible ways, but there is always a reason. Through death and disaster christian are leading people to God, it's hard to believe that a merciful and loving God would allow these things to happen, but the problem is no one believes in him any way. When families are reunited after the storm or rescued before it occurs people look at the rescuers and are like wow they're great people... well who do you think gave us those great people to help and save others? Don't blame God for the storm, thank him for the miracles after it, during it. My church youth group was in Jamaica during the hurricane, and they were helping families clean up afterwards while showing people Gods love and teaching them his word. My challenge to you is to find Gods miracles in every situation. Everything happens for a reason and bringing people to God through these ruff times is our ultimate goal. ------- The comment left on this blog presented me with another view as well, the world has a natural climate and in order to sustain itself certain natural occurrence have to take place. God just uses these events as a way for Christians to show compassion and love for others, I do believe that the comment preceding this makes a lot of since.
Comments
God created nature just as he created us, and there is no inherent sin in, say, a lion eating a gazelle. Sure, to us that looks like a brutal killing, but being a carnivore is perfectly natural. We humans tend to always view death as evil when in fact it is something that is just a natural consequence of life, and a very important aspect of nature.
A hurricane may seem like an awful thing with devestating consequences that must be some form of evil, but in fact hurricanes play an important role in regulating the global climate and reviving coastal estuaries. They even help bring rain to typically dry areas.
Going on a theological tangent, the only things in the world that carry sin with them are humans ("born into bondage to sin"). Natural disasters aren't evil, and for that matter neither is death itself. Sure, we experience grief when a tragedy like Hurricane Katrina happens and hundreds die, but grief and sadness do not correlate with sin.