WHY NATURAL DISASTERS, GOD?
By NiteOwlDave
niteowldave@gmail.com
I remember hearing evangelist Billy Graham tell Larry King on his CNN 9 p.m. interview program that man’s sin is why we see such weather turmoil on earth.
“How simplistic,” I thought. However, the more I think about Dr. Graham’s observation, the more sense it makes.
God created the winds and the tides, and for our good. He created in each of us the ability to choose right from wrong. Our choices have good and bad consequences, weather wise and otherwise.
Adam and Eve opened the floodgates on mankind when they chose to sin in the Garden of Eden. Satan grabbed the controls. He laughs as he spins out earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, typhoons, cyclones, mudslides, and other disasters.
Sadly, tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the 2008 cyclone in Myanmar, the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and the 2011 earthquake/tsunami in Japan cause many people to question God’s goodness.
We can’t blame disaster survivors for that. Who wouldn’t question God’s fairness as they watched their smashed stuff float away?
One could say it’s odd that natural disasters are often termed “acts of God” while no credit is given to God for years, decades, or even centuries of peaceful weather.
Genesis 1:1 says that God created the whole universe and the laws of nature. Colossians 1: 16-17 says, that Jesus Christ holds all of nature together. I suggest this means that God, at times, does allow Satan to wreck havoc as judgment for our sin.
1 Kings 8:35 says,” When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them.”
Deuteronomy 28:24 says,” The LORD will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.”
James 5:17 and Numbers 16:30-34 also shows us that God can and does cause natural disasters as a judgment against sin. Revelation 6, 8 and 16 forecast many events that can definitely be described as natural disasters.
As for the Old Testament and Revelation verses where God sends disasters as specific punishment for sin, that is for Israel only. Israel is God's earthly people and God requires much of them.
It doesn’t appear that any of these versus apply to today’s age. See Leviticus 26, and Deuteronomy 28, 29,30 for specific blessings and punishments for Israel.
In much the same way that God allows evil people to commit evil acts, God allows the earth to reflect the consequences sin has had on creation.
Romans 8:19-21 tells us, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
The fall of humanity into sin had effects on everything, including the world we inhabit. Everything in creation is subject to “frustration” and “decay.” As Billy Grahm observed, sin is the ultimate cause of natural disasters just as it is the cause of death, disease, and suffering.
Tragic disasters shake our confidence in this life and force us to think about eternity. Churches are usually filled after disasters as people realize how tenuous their lives really are and how life can be taken away in an instant.
What we do know is this: God is good. Many amazing miracles occurr during the course of natural disasters that prevent even greater loss of life.
Disasters cause millions of people to reevaluate their priorities in life. Hundreds of millions of dollars in aid is sent to help the people who are suffering.
Christian ministries have the opportunity to help, minister, counsel, pray, and lead people to saving faith in Christ. God can, and does, bring good out of terrible tragedies.
