Posts Tagged ‘discipline’

Natural disasters paint a picture of the wrath of God. His power can devastate a city with an earthquake or He can put a state or a nation under water.  His power to bring devastation is beyond our ability to fathom.

Some do not wish to acknowledge that they are acts of God.  But the Bible is very clear about this.  Here are some verses to consider:

Psalm 147:16-18 He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.  He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold?  He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

Isaiah 45:7  I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.’

Amos 4:9 “I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and your vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees the locust devoured; yet you did not return to me,” declares the LORD.

(Also see Job 13:15; Job  37:3, 6, 10-13; Jeremiah 10:13; Amos 4:7,   Matthew 5:45)

As you can see it is clear that whether the conditions are good or bad, for correction or love (Job 37:13), by Biblical standards these “natural” disasters are the acts of our sovereign God. He is in control of creation. There is no chance or luck involved when we are hit by a hurricane or an earthquake.

Though natural calamities are easy examples to point out, other disasters (economic, political, social) are just as much in God’s control. So what is the purpose of a loving God when He sends such hard things our way?  I do not know His mind so I can’t say what His exact reasons are. We do know that His purposes are not for evil but for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28) and that He disciplines and tests those He loves.

It is not hard to conclude in times like we are living through now, that God is bringing judgment on our nation.  Should we, as Christians, be asking Him what it is that He wants us to see or hear from the disasters we are seeing and hearing about?

Some Christians believe that these  are a sign that the end is near. But, we do not know the day or the time so should we be asking, “What is it that we are to say or do in these trying times?” Is this a warning for us today so we turn from our evil ways and call on His Name?  (2 Chronicles 7:14)

In Matthew 22 the Pharisees ask Jesus about marriage in heaven.  His response to them was this: “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.”  Matthew 22:29

Do we know the Scriptures?  Does our understanding inform us that if judgment is so obvious then confession and repentance are the remedy? Have we spent too much time listening to media commentators and not to the Word of God? We experience weather and economic downfalls and forget that the Sovereign God of the Universe, the One who says that the earth is His, as is all that is in it, is the One we turn to for relief.

Turning to the state for relief in hard times  has been repeatedly tried and shown not to work. When the basic problem is sin against God, looking to the state cannot be the answer. When the warnings are from God, it’s to Him we must turn.  His mercies are new every morning.

We have walked so far from Him as a nation that it is gracious of Him to remind us of His power. In Job 5:17-18, we are given this reminder, “Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty. For He wounds, but He binds up; He shatters, but His hands heal.”

Will we learn the Scriptures so we will know the power – and the great mercy – of our God?