Hurricanes, Prayer and Fait

Hurricane’s Harvey, Irma and Jose. Many Christians believe they were God’s judgment on the US for sin. And, predictably, the sins most often identified were same sex marriage, the homosexual lifestyle and abortion. In fact, one well-known Hollywood actress said “Mother Nature” was reacting to our voting in Mr. Trump as president. (Yes, she said that.)

  

Same sex marriage, the homosexual lifestyle, abortion on demand and voting Mr. Trump into the office of president had nothing to do with these horrific hurricanes. We will not truly understand why hurricanes like these occur until we come back to scripture. Our thinking and understanding must be grounded in the Bible and nothing else.

I still remember the mayor of New Orleans blaming the city’s sinful lifestyle, like the Marti Gras, for Hurricane Katrina. “It was God’s judgment on the city for sin,” he declared in his press conference. And sadly, many Christian leaders echoed his view. Do you know what’s even sadder? Many in the Body of Christ still believe such disasters are God’s punishment for sin.

Is God to blame?

Was God behind Harvey, Irma and Jose? Did He send them as punishment for sin? If He did, why did He single out Texas and Florida? Are they more sinful than California, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Idaho, New Mexico or Utah? I don’t think so.

Before we search the scriptures for the answer, let’s look at one more issue. The Bible says if we (Christians) have faith we can speak to any mountain and it has to obey (Mark 11:23, 24).

Many Christians, including myself, spoke to the “mountains” – Harvey, Irma and Jose. We prayed, declared and confessed that they would dissipate before doing any damage or bodily harm. Our prayers were not answered. Did we not have faith? Or, did we not have enough faith? Or, was there something else at play?

God is Light.

Let’s go back to my first question. “Is God behind Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Jose? Did He send them as punishment on the US for sin?”

We’re going to begin in 1 John 1.

(1)     That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

(2)     (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

(3)     That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

(4)     And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

(5)     This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

The Amplified Bible renders verse five this way: “And this is the message [the message of promise] which we have heard from Him and now are reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all [no, not in any way].”

How would you characterize Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Jose? Would you say they were light (good)? Or would you say they were darkness (not good)? The answer is obvious.

“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” The word “no” in the Greek expresses a full and direct negation, independently and absolutely. Simply, there is absolutely no possible way that God has darkness as part of His character. And just because we attribute dark behavior to Him does not make it so. That’s what “independently and absolutely” mean. God is light. Period.

So where does this leave us?

If God is not involved then that means He did not send Harvey, Irma and Jose and the devastation that accompanied them. It means God is not punishing us. Do you see this?

If God is not responsible for the hurricanes, then who is?

Many Christians will immediately point the finger at Satan. After all, he is darkness personified, right? Hold on now. Slow your roll. Don’t jump to that conclusion just yet. The Bible does tell us who is responsible for these horrible hurricanes.

Turn to Romans chapter five. We’re going to read verse 12.

Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

Now turn to Genesis 3. We’re going to read verse 17 and the first part of verse 18.

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee...

Romans says Adam opens door for sin to come into the world and sin brings along its running buddy, death. Genesis shows us that sin and death literally change the molecular structure of everything in God’s original creation.

Ouch! That hurt!

For the first time, we see thorns and thistles. Would you say thorns and thistles are good things to have around? Or, would you say they are not good to have around? Thorns. Bad. Thistles. Bad. Fingers pricked. Ouch!

That is what Adam’s sin, rebellion, against God produced – things that we don’t like having around us[BJ1] . When Adam sins, the sin nature affects all of creation, leading to devastating effects on the weather such as Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Jose.

Now turn to Romans 8.

(19) For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

(20) For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

(21) Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

(22) For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

The word “vanity” in verse 20 means frailty. Because of Adam’s sin, all of natural creation was weakened and became subject to conditions that previously did not exist. Extreme heat. Extreme cold. Extreme winds. Extreme flooding. Thorns. Thistles.

Creation is in slavery.

We see in verse 21 that creation is in “bondage” or slavery in the Greek. What is creation a slave to? It’s a slave to corruption – decay, ruin, destruction – which is the result of the sin and death we read about earlier in Romans 5:12.

We also see in this verse that the slavery to corruption was forced upon creation. The earth experienced Harvey, Irma and Jose for only one reason: sin and death which Adam released in Genesis 3 when he rebelled against God.

There is one more phrase we need to see that drives this point home. “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (verse 22).

The phrase presents the image of a woman in pain during childbirth. The pain, which is nearly unbearable, ceases when the mother brings forth a new life. The Bible says a new earth – one that is not a slave to corruption – will replace the earth that is now groaning and in travail.

“Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (not sin, not death, and not corruption). (2 Peter 3:13)

Many of us prayed against Harvey, Irma and Jose. We prayed that the damage would be minimal and there would be no loss of human life. The property damage is estimated to reach upwards of $50 billion and the death toll is in double digits.

Our prayers were not answered.

Do you remember my second set of questions? Did we not have faith? Or, did we not have enough faith? Or, was there something else at play?

Scripture tells us that something else is at play.

First, turn with me to Matthew 24.

(3) And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the signs of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

(4) And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

(5) For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ and shall deceive many.

(6) And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

(7) For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

(8) All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Now let’s look at the same incident in Mark 13.

(3) And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,

(4) Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

(5) And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you.

(6) For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

(7) And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.

(8) For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginning of sorrows.

Jesus says in Matthew that the signs of His return will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. He also says these things must come to pass and that these are the beginning of sorrows.

In Mark, Jesus adds “troubles” as one of the signs of His return. In the Greek, “troubles” means disturbance that is (of water) or a great and powerful troubling of water.

I want you to see the synonyms for “trouble” in the New Testament:

• A surge of the sea, raging wave
• Wind, storm, tempest
• A whirlwind, storm, tempest
• A billow, wave

Jesus is telling us in Matthew and Mark that prayer and faith, two critical components in a maturing Christian walk, are not going to stop the famines, pestilences, earthquakes or powerful troubling waters like Harvey. Irma. Jose. You need to see this.

Prayer and faith, which are critical as we mature in our Christian walk, will not change what Jesus says is going to happen.

What does this mean for us? Should we stop praying? Should we stop declaring and confessing what the Bible says? No. We must continue to pray. We must continue to mature our faith. We must continue to conform to the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Now, allow me to make some observations.

(1)   We can’t allow ourselves to look in the mirror and see “faith failures” because it’s not true. We can’t let Satan convince us that we don’t have any faith at all. We had enough faith to get born again, didn’t we? Don’t let him lie to you.

(2)   What we see in Matthew and Mark: Jesus is telling us what is going to come to pass as we get closer to His return. He’s pulling back the curtain, if you will, and giving us a sneak peek. What great love our savior has for us! I can just hear him: “Barry, when you see these signs, get ready, I’m coming for you!”

(3)   Most importantly, we must remember the encouragement Jesus gives us – “see that ye be not troubled” or afraid or frightened. Although we cannot stop these “signs” from happening, we can pray and speak protection over ourselves and over the ones we love.

Never stop praying. Never stop developing and maturing your faith. There are too many lost souls who don’t know Jesus and are heading for the lake of fire. If they are to have any shot at eternal life with our Father, they will need our prayers and they will need our faith. Let’s make sure we give them both – in abundance!

Barry O Johnson is a Teacher of the gospel. I live in Beavercreek, OH with Doris, my wife of 40 years. We have two grown sons. I write a monthly teaching letter that focuses on the foundational beliefs found in scripture (Bjteachingltr@gmail.com).

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 [BJ1]