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On Hurricanes, Babies, and other Acts of God copyright Clark H Smith In the midst of any natural phenomenon - hurricanes, droughts, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc - prayers are freely offered up to God to change the course of the disaster or to minimize the damages to life and property – especially to the lives and property of people we know. Here’s a series of questions that logically flow from a situation like this: If this is an Act of God, why is He acting this way? Does God want us to pray that the disaster does not affect a specific person? Will God change the course or limit the damage done if we pray earnestly? If God honors our prayers as to the course and amount of destruction, why doesn’t He just not allow the destruction in the first place. (After all, at every time at every place, there are people who are praying that damage and destruction be limited – why not just cut it out altogether and save the trouble of guiding a hurricane around all the "prayed up" people?) Is an Act of God a sign of divine displeasure – a tiny little bit’o’judgment? Why are there Acts of God?" To answer the last question first, we live in a broken world. In Genesis 3 God said, "cursed is the ground because of you." This "ground" is not just the dirt, but clearly the entire world in which we live. We must all agree that the natural disasters that afflict us would hardly seem to fit within a perfect Garden of Eden. Our planet suffers under the curse of Adam’s sin. Whether this seems "fair" or not, this is the revealed truth of God and must be our starting point for understanding God and how to deal with Him. I believe there is another facet of the curse which affects us in even more personal ways. Do you believe there was cancer in the Garden? Do you believe there was infertility in the Garden? Do you believe there was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in the Garden? I don’t. I think that the physical catastrophes that plague our lives are also as a result of living in a broken world. It may seem harsh that you or a family member suffer because of a curse brought on by Adam – but blaming Adam avoids realizing that your sin would have brought on the curse just the same. The Bible teaches from Genesis 3 and 6-7 that there are some things present on this earth that do not honor God’s original design. The logical question then becomes, "Why is going doing (or allowing) all these bad things to happen. Is a hurricane, an earthquake, an infertile couple, or a forty year-old father dying of brain cancer a sign of God’s judgement? Or are natural and medical disasters simply what happens when God takes a nap and forgets to watch over us? Let’s look at scripture. As to natural disasters: He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45) This verse clearly states that God has set rain and sunshine on earth without regard to goodness or badness! He is not mad at you when the rain ruins your birthday party at the lake and He is not doing you a favor by sending enough rain to keep your yard alive and hold your water bill down. God is not in the water bill business! This verse teaches that rain and sunshine are naturally occurring phenomena on this earth. We can understand that, can’t we? As to the physical illnesses which are so painful to deal with:
3 Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him. (John 9:1-3) This short passage demolishes the notion that God gets mad enough at us to ruin our lives with physical catastrophes. This blind man, like his parents and you and I, had sinned, but that was not the reason for his blindness. I detest the preachers who rail against homosexuality and claim AIDS as proof that God is mad about this specific sin. That is heresy of the first order! By that logic, wouldn’t all the people suffering with birth defects be evidence that God also hates heterosexual reproduction? We need to get our thoughts and emotions on a level plain or we will makes fools of ourselves instead of making sense of God. Is God judging the world through the "bad things" that happen in our lives? As we have said, we live in a broken world as a consequence of sin. But the consequences of sin can hardly be equated with judgement of sin. If I get mad and throw a rock through a window I have consequences to deal with (paying for the window to be replaced) and I have judgment to deal with (some form of punishment). In this world we deal with the consequences of sin. In this world we do not usually deal with God’s judgment. Note Hebrews 9.27: It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment. God will judge us at the beginning of eternity. During our earthly lives, He graciously waits for us to call out to Him for salvation. (The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. II Peter 3:9) I would not tell the full biblical truth if I did not acknowledge that the record shows that God has judged people during their lives - apparently for their sin. He has done this through natural disaster (the Flood of Noah / the plagues on Egypt / the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah) and through physical illness (Acts 12.21-23). There must be a reason for these exceptional cases. In most of these "divine" judgements, there seems to be a common factor of crossing the boundaries between God and man. We can study that later, but for now, it is sufficient to say that has not made a habit out of destroying people (by whatever means) during their life on earth. The fact that you and I and the rest of the world are alive today is argument enough that God is not judging the sinfulness of man before death. Hebrews 4.16 gives us the best information on what God is doing about our sins: Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need. God is not sitting on His judgement seat eagerly watching to zap us. He is graciously waiting for us, eager to help us, in spite of our sin, to do the things that are beneficial for us and glorifying to Him. That is one hundred percent consistent with the teaching of the entire Bible. God may have destroyed much of Egypt through the plagues, but He also begged Pharaoh ten times to release the Israelites. God is not hard-hearted, but patiently, pleadingly hopeful. Now at last we turn to the issue of prayer. Can we pray away the calamities that befall us. Many people have claimed credit for praying and causing God to act in a certain way. Some have claimed they diverted the path of hurricanes and tornadoes. I have some biblically-based doubts about such claims. First, why pray to change the course or minimize the damage from disasters – why not just pray that a disaster never happen. Why not just pray right now that never again will a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, drought, flood ever again mar the lives of humans? I doubt that prayer would work, because it goes against what God has told us life on earth is like (remember Matthew 5.45). Should we pray that God minimize the disastrous effects of the storms of life, whether they are natural of physical, or emotional for that matter? Yes, I think God is glorified when we pray about our hopes and fears. The great hymn remind us: "What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer." God knows we don’t want Granny’s house or our livelihoods destroyed or any human suffering. Our prayers honor God because they admit a dependence on God – and that is the sole purpose of the curse on Adam! Genesis 3.17 is best translated to read "cursed is the ground for your sake." God intended that generation after generation learn to depend on Him to provide the blessings of life. He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. (Acts 14:17) However, many times our prayers get too selfishly specific. Often, we present our needs to God as a shopping list. We detail the prayers and praises of our lives and ask God to address them in such a way as to maximize our blessings and minimize our pains. This, too, is within the scriptural boundaries of prayers and promises (see Jeremiah 29.11). But I can tell you with absolute certainty God does not answer our prayers so that our lives may be made more tolerable! That is not the business God is in. As unpalatable as it may be to people defiant to the will of God – God is in the God glorifying business. And more personal than that, we should be in the God glorifying business! Jesus was in that business and God liked it: "Father, glorify Thy name." There came therefore a voice out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." (John 12:28) Never once did Jesus pray to escape or avoid any personal tragedy. He never had a "comfortable" life, He faced personal rejection, the sickness and death of friends, betrayal, and even his own death with absolute steady focus on glorifying God. Jesus wants the goal of our life to be glorifying God: "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?" (John 5.44) Jesus saw the problems and calamities of our life as an opportunity for God to be glorified. Remember what He said about the cause of the man’s blindness: "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him. (John 9:3). Another time he addressed a serious illness by saying: "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it." (John 11:4) Jesus summed up his entire earthly ministry as being devoted to glorifying God: These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee" (John 17.1) And brothers and sisters of Faith, Jesus wants us to pray in everything for one purpose – THAT GOD BE GLORIFIED: "And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (John 14:13) "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples." (John 15:7-8)
We live in a broken world. As a consequence, we suffer personal, private tragedies and great global catastrophes. God is not disappointed when we pray for hurricanes to turn left or right to avoid Granny’s house. God is not disappointed when we weep at the bedside of a sick or dying child and beg Him to return health. God is not disappointed when we cry out "WHY" in despair over the evilness of the world. But brothers and sisters of faith, as a man who is only just now learning the truth, I can tell you that God IS disappointed when we seek anything other than for Him to be glorified. God is saddened by any prayer that fails to beg Him to act in whatever way will bring Him the most glory. When we can join David in this Psalm of Praise, we will find ourselves in the sole business of Glorifying God: Psalm 145:1-18 1 I
will extol Thee, my God, O King; and I will bless Thy name forever
and ever. God, today be near to me and be glorified through me.
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