Hurricane Florence

Even though I’m on the road, I’ve been paying special attention to the news of Hurricane Florence and the destruction and flooding it has caused. Whenever such a big disaster strikes, it’s only natural to look to God and wonder why. Natural disasters seem to cause such senseless and brutal suffering. When hurricanes strike, wiping out many lives in what seems to be a capricious and thoughtless “act of nature,” where is God? Why didn’t His hand stave off such tragedy?

Followers of Jesus once asked Him the same question in the face of a natural disaster. It seems that a tower had unexpectedly fallen on some people, killing many of them. Jesus comments on the tragedy when He says, “…those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:4–5).

His point? Rather than suggest a cause for these calamities, Jesus responded by issuing a call for repentance. He made His listeners focus on the condition of their own soul instead of trying to assign blame. When natural disasters occur, even if God did explain His purposes, it would be like pouring million-gallon truths into our one-ounce brains; we couldn’t take it all in. Instead, we are to look at hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires as God’s “wake-up calls,” sounding a loud alarm and reminding us how short, fleeting and frail life really is for us all! Yes, it could have been me who lost my life in Hurricane Florence, but it wasn’t… and that fact alone should humble me and cause me to examine my own soul, asking, would I have been prepared to meet God had I lost my life?

Franklin Graham, whose ministry Samaritan’s Purse is on the scene in the Carolinas, has said, “Catastrophes like this also summon us to redouble our efforts to call people everywhere to repentance.” Franklin is right. And so, let’s join him in buckling down and getting earnest about giving the Good News of Jesus Christ to people who do not know the Lord. Because when it comes to disasters, you never know when a mandatory evacuation will come to your neighborhood!