In September of 2013, the community of Boulder suffered a natural disaster of epic proportions. It rained for four days straight. That may not be much to people who live on relatively flat ground, but when it happens in the mountains, none of that water stays where it falls. It all starts running downhill...fast. The media started to use an interesting metaphor in describing the amount of rain. They said it was raining in 'biblical proportions.' A pastor friend of mine pushed back against that characterization by pointing out is wasn't as if God was hovering over the Rocky Mountains repeatedly pushing the 'rain' button. Rather, the event of last month were the result of naturally occurring meteorological forces...albeit forces that don't come together very often...like once every 100 years. But they do happen. And when they happen, we get results which turns meandering streams into raging rivers that literally move mountains...and bridges...and roads...and buildings...and anything else we've situated on the land. And yet, when these things happen, people want to blame God. (We usually do when things aren't going our way.)  |
| Most of the devastation occurred in the mountains. |
But when it comes to natural disasters, I think we blame God unfairly.
This is not an attempt to minimize the tragic loss of life, or the massive scale of physical destruction caused by natural disasters. They are truly lamentable and I grieve with everyone who has suffered because of one. However, I am suggesting that it is healthy to keep things in their proper perspective. We need to remember that we live on a dynamic planet that was created by God. More to the point, God imbued this place with a creative process didn’t stop with the first Sabbath. Earthquakes create new islands and volcanoes birth new hills. At the same time, erosive action gives rivers new courses and felled trees disintegrate to provide nutrients for new flora. It is a never ending process of construction and destruction that includes blizzards, droughts, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and all other manner of natural disasters. It is part and parcel to the privilege of living on God’s green earth.
To help me keep that in perspective, I remember when I would drive up highway US-36 toward the mountain town of Estes Park. Along the way I would marvel at the rugged splendor of canyon scenery, and in that, would see the beauty of God’s creative hand. Or, to borrow from the Belgic Confession, “Creation was before my eyes like a beautiful book in which all creatures and landscapes, both great and small, was as letters on the pages to make me ponder the invisible things of God.” But after the floods, I ask myself: "Am I justified in protesting
 |
| God's creative process at work...it's just that the road got in the way |
Of course we wouldn’t be the first to wrestle with the question. (e.g. the Book of Job). Nor am I suggesting that God causes disasters for the sake of simply redecorating Creation. Instead, the Apostle Paul points us to a different reality when he writes in Romans 8 that both we and Creation live in eager expectation of the coming of God’s Kingdom; that life on this earth is not as good as it gets.
So when I struggle to make sense of the pain, suffering and destruction caused by natural disasters, I remember a line from the Heidelberg Q&A 1, which reminds me: “God watches over us in such a way that not a hair can fall from our head without the will of our Father in Heaven; In fact, all things must work together for our salvation.” I take that to mean that God’s redemptive work of restoring us AND His Creation cannot be stopped. So while we grieve and lament for losses in the wake of a natural disaster, we are reassured that our eternal security and His coming Kingdom is never in doubt.
Keep the faith,
No comments:
Post a Comment