Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Tornadoes, Tragedies and the Trustworthiness of God


I’m sure your yesterday evening/night was spent much like mine: glued in front of the television watching the reports coming out of Moore, Oklahoma, as the search and rescue teams looked for survivors after a deadly EF4 tornado destroyed everything in its path.  My heart broke as I heard reports of devastation and death: children killed at Plaza Towers Elementary School, a mother and her child killed as they attempted to get into a deep freeze, and the stories go on and on, each one as lamentable as the other.

When we see such devastation, when we look at the loss, and when we feel the pain caused by disasters such as this, we tend to ask a few questions.  First, we ask, “Why?”  Second, we ask, “Where was God during this?”  Third, we ask, “How can a loving, gracious God allow something that produces so much hurt and pain?”  Fourthly, we ask, “Did someone’s actions cause this?  Is this disaster the direct result of personal sin?”  Some of these questions will never be answered in our lifetime (and that’s not a copout; that’s reality).  But there are several passages of scripture that can shed light on our questions and give hope in our despair.

Oftentimes, events, especially natural disasters of this nature, cause us to put things in proper biblical perspective.  In light of the disaster, there are 5 pastoral observations that I want to make.

1.     We Control Nothing.

Who among us had enough strength, enough power, and enough authority to stop what occurred?  Of course the answer is: No one.  For a control-hungry people, the fact that we face events in life that are completely out of our control is difficult and disturbing.

The fact that we aren’t in control begs the question: If we are not in control, then who is?  The answer is this: God is in control.  Do not think that God lost one ounce of His control and sovereignty on May 20th.  It wasn’t as if God was in control, and then He lost it for a moment, thus prompting the tornado and destruction.  If He ever lost control the result wouldn’t be a powerful EF4 tornado, but the end of all things.  Please, don’t think that God loses control in Tornados, Hurricanes, or other natural disasters. 

Scripture is filled with declarations of God’s sovereign control over all things.  “29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”  (Matthew 10:29)  “27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”” (Matthew 8:27)  A quick note: The winds obey Jesus, not Satan.  Satan has NO authority over winds, tornadoes, and hurricanes.  Even the smallest, nonessential issues are a product of God’s sovereign control: “33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” (Proverbs 16:33)  After the national tragedy of Judah falling into captivity in 586 B.C., Jeremiah wrote, “37 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?” (Lamentations 3:37)

In disaster and devastation, the only thing we can cling to is God’s sovereign control over the all things.

2.     We Must Not Boast About Tomorrow.

James 4:13-16 says, “13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

I couldn't help but wonder this while looking at all the destroyed homes and listening to the reports of death: How many people, when they built or bought their home, expected it to be destroyed in this fashion?  How many people woke up that morning thinking it would be the last time they saw their children?  How many people woke up realizing May 20th would be their final day upon this earth?  Sadly, we tend to treat the future so flippantly that it is classified as “evil” in James 4:16.   

Let us rejoice in the gift of today.  May God forgive us and remove from us the presumption that tomorrow is a guarantee! 

3.     We Live In A Cursed, Groaning World.

Paul says this in Romans 8: “18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Tornados, hurricanes, and other natural disasters were not originally in the design of God’s creation.  You would not find a Katrina or an EF4 tornado prior to Genesis 3.  When God created all things he summed it up with these words, “It was good.”  It was only after Adam sinned and the entire creation fell under the curse of sin that disasters followed.

The Degree Of Suffering Doesn’t Correlate With The Degree Of Wickedness

One of the most helpful passages is Luke 13:1-5.  Here, we read:

1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

This passage is remarkable.  Some people came to Christ, telling him about how Pilate had killed a group of Galileans while they were offering sacrifices (that is what it mean when he mingled their blood with their sacrifices).  Their assumption was this: For them to have suffered this terrible death, they must have sinned terribly.  Jesus’ response was this: The Galileans didn’t suffer to this degree because they were worse sinners than others.  In fact, Jesus told them that unless they (those who were questioning Christ) repented, they, too, would perish.  He then references a disaster: The tower of Siloam fell on 18 people, killing them.  Again, Jesus asks them if they were worse sinners than others because they were killed in this event.  The answer again is this: No!

To bring this home, let’s ask this practical question: Were the people of Moore, Oklahama, worse sinners than the people of Salyersville, Kentucky?  Moore, Oklahoma not only experienced devastation, they also experienced death (something Magoffin County was spared on our March 2nd Tornado in 2012).  Were the people of Morgan County, Kentucky, worse sinners than the people of Magoffin County?  After all, Morgan County experienced fatalities on March 2, 2012, but Magoffin County didn’t.  The answer is, “No.”  God forbid that we have this mentality! 

Natural Disasters Are A God-Given Reminder Of Sin’s Destruction

One might not see it, but natural disasters, while acts of power and devastation, serves as a tool of grace.  While that statement seems odd, I hope we can see the biblical purpose of it.

John Piper described the why best when he said:

God put the natural world under a curse so that the physical horrors we see around us in diseases and calamities would become a vivid picture of how horrible sin is.  In other words, natural evil is a signpost pointing to the horrors of evil…He disordered the natural world because of the disorder of the moral and spiritual world – that is because of sin.

We can’t “see” the calamities associated with sin.  Why?  Oftentimes, the calamities associated with sin are unseen, in a sense.  But when the natural order is placed under the curse of sin, disaster ensues.  What do the disasters prove?  They demonstrate how serious, deadly, and devastating sin is.

Why do hurricanes hit the shore?  Sin.  Why do tornados obliterate towns?  Sin.  Every disaster is the direct result of one man’s sin: Adam’s.  D.A. Carson said, “God uses disaster as a mega-phone to call attention to our guilt.

When we survey the damage, look at the debris, feel the hurt, and hear the stories of death, let it serve as a reminder to us of the devastating effect sin has on people!  You want to know what sin will do to your life?  Look at what an EF4 tornado did to Moore, Oklahoma: that will be your life if you follow sin!

Creation Is Waiting

Each disaster, each diagnosis of cancer, each death is this created order groaning, crying out, and longing for a brighter day.  Paul calls that day the “revealing of the sons of God”.  In other words, creation is waiting for the day when God’s children will be revealed as such: His children without any hint of sinful nature; we shall be perfectly like Him.  When this occurs, the natural order will revert to pre-Genesis 3 tranquility.  Why will this occur?  Revelation 22:3 says, “And there shall be no more curse.” 

4.     We Rejoice In A Hope That Can’t Be Destroyed

Romans 8 says that God also gave creation “hope”.  The hope he is referencing is the promise of Genesis 3:15.  In that promise, while God is speaking the curse of sin upon creation, He gave hope in these words: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”  God promised a deliverer, a Savior, a Christ!  The hope is this: Christ will restore creation to its original “good” design through His death, burial and resurrection! 

How Can We “Rejoice” In That?

I choose the word “rejoice” carefully.  When we watched the coverage, “rejoice” isn’t a verb that comes to our mind.  SadIndescribableHorrificDevastating?  Maybe.  One doesn’t think of the word rejoice when they are standing in a pile of rubble that 24 hours ago was their home; nor do people think of the word rejoice when they see their loved one lose every worldly possession they have in a matter of minutes; nor do people think of the word rejoice when they have a loved one leave this world unexpectedly.  Yet, my biblical challenge is to rejoice.  And we can do just that.

For the child of God, our rejoicing is based on our hope.  If our hope endures, our rejoicing will endure.  If the object of our hope is destroyed, then our rejoicing will be destroyed as well.  In other words, if one’s hope is in a house, then a tornado can take it awayIf one’s hope is in a car, then hail can damage itIf one’s hope is in physical well-being, then death can snatch it.  But if our hope is anchored in something eternal, then a tornado, hail, wind, or death can take away my rejoicing and joy.  Jesus said, “…no one will take your joy from you.” (John 16:22)  Jesus put this perspective on it: “19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

I encourage you: Have your hope anchored in something that a storm can’t take away.  Have your hope anchored in something that sickness can’t take away.  Have your hope anchored in something that death can’t take away.

5.     If You Were Frightened By The Sights Of An EF4 Tornado, Can You Imagine What the Judgment of God Will Be Like?

In most people’s heart (mine included), there is a fear of that which we cannot control, especially when that is a strong tornado that is leveling everything in its path.  Yet, that uneasy feeling and fear that gripped our heart when the sky turned black and the wind roared will not compare to the feeling we will have when we stand before God.  What is more terrifying than staring down a deadly tornado?  Standing before the God of the tornado.

Revelation describes how men will respond to the coming of Christ: “15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17)

It is the living out of the old Negro spiritual:
I ran to the rocks to hide my face.
The rocks cried out, “No hiding place.”

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