After Harvey inundated Houston and after Irma surged over Florida, I recalled my own experience as a boy in central Florida in 1960. Hurricane Donna came right over us. I remember the howling wind. I put my hand on a big window in the den and felt it shudder. Dad frightened mom by driving around during the eye. Pine trees were crisscrossed, interlaced like fingers. Those standing had endured winds from opposite directions. The next day, men with noisy chain saws cut apart massive oak trees that blocked us from getting out to the paved road.
These past three weeks, I was watching incredible news of the two storms' devastation. I saw a lady getting out of a boat in Texas to enter a shelter. She carried in her hand the amazing book, Rising Strong, by social researcher, Brene Brown. I realized I was witnessing resilient people fighting to overcome hardship. I saw citizens helping others regardless of skin color, immigrant status, economic level, education, ethnicity, or political party affiliation. They weren't waiting on government assistance. Americans were rising strong to stand together, the way it should be.
America is capable of healing from the roots up. But now our tree trunks are bent from stress and our leaves are shredded. The winds of false accusations, fears, and envy have swept across our nation. Being in a fragmented society is like driving a car with a splintered windshield. Maybe the glass isn't totally broken but it's difficult to see clearly. Which direction should you go when you can't see what's ahead on the road? Fortunately, for those of us who possess prewritten instructions from the Lord, we know what lies ahead and we know what steps to take next... and we are.
Historically, disasters don't always occur due to sin, idolatry, or rebellious people. Yes, bad things do happen to good people. The reverse is true: good things happen to bad people. Both are hard to explain as they occur. Yes, disasters can be a divine payback. Why? Because God is just and judgments will become due. Remember Nineveh? Before God judged that violent city, he sent Jonah to preach repentance to them. They listened and were spared. God is just but he is also righteous. It is when we refuse to listen to the Lord that inevitable disintegration begins. On the other hand, the blessings of the Lord last more than a lifetime.
The Lord once told obstinate Israel, after sending prophets to them, "I smote you and every work of your hands with blasting wind ... yet you did not come back to Me." (Haggai 2:17) It is not that God is eager to punish anyone - he isn't. God is patient and kind. He looks for reasons to show mercy, to delay our reaping pain from sowing our sin. He wants to bless us and forgive us, if we will turn away from wickedness and turn to Him. Such a turn displays visible fruit.
In many ways, Texas and Florida represent the best of what our country is. In Dallas, my brother Don had a red cap made up that read, "Make America Texas Again." Yet even with all the goodness of self-reliance and righteousness, those two states got hit hard. But you know what? It could have been MUCH WORSE! I'm sure the prayers of many believers in America for those areas helped avert a much greater disaster. Mercy indeed triumphed over judgment.
-- Ron Wood is a writer and minister. Contact him at [email protected] or visit www.touchedbygrace.org. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Religion on 09/20/2017