SCHOOL MARM SANDY

What could possibly come between politics and the election?  Only Frankenstorm Sandy.

In a stroke, Sandy made clear that politics isn't everything.  A really good teacher doesn't even have to have a power point presentation, although Sandy does have some terrifying pictures.

The ones who screamed for help from their Long Island rooftops would tell you LIFE is the most important thing.  People from the blackened neighborhood of Breezy Shores sadly shake their heads to say the material stuff is all secondary.  And the dear NYC souls in a darkened high-rise with a warm fridge and lack of toilet can also see beyond elections.


Sandy made her point and God allowed it.

Am I saying God punished the East Coast with a hurricane?  No.  God is the only One who knows His purposes and I'm not God.  But I CAN make some true observations...

1.  People who cried out to God in the storm would tell you knowing HIM is paramount because calling on Him is the only practical thing to do when you're helpless.  You can't call "ghostbusters". Sometimes you can't even 9-1-1 the government.  There are times when it's only you and the Lord.

2.  God does create disaster.  I remember how surprised I was when I first heard that.  There are many verses, but here are a couple that show His sovereignty.

Isaiah 45:7

"I form the light and create darkness,

I bring prosperity and create disaster;

I, the Lord, do all these things'."

Jeremiah 35:17

"So I, the Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, says:

'I will soon bring on Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem

all the disaster that I threatened to bring on them.
I will do this because I spoke to them but they did not listen.
I called out to them but they did not answer'."

3.  Jesus calmed the wind and waves on the Sea of Galilee to show He has control over nature.  It paid to be in the boat with Jesus.

So God has the power to send a storm...He says He brings disaster...and He used the flood to display His authority against man's rebellion.  In the case of Hurricane Sandy, it would be wrong to say it was God's specific judgment, but we can see how the thick insulation of everyday life was sliced in a nanno second.  God's redemptive intent is that all men would take notice of Him/turn to Him.  Even the worst suffering could be counted gain if it were eternity-altering.

Perhaps you think it insensitive to be speaking about gain when lives were lost.  When we consider the pictures of such complete devastation, we wonder how the death count in our country was just 110.

Again, I am not God and cannot explain everything.  I just know the souls who died were like you and I.  We have been given the blessing of life and a certain number of days.  No one is guaranteed tomorrow.  Our choice, then, is to use our days wisely.

My Genesis study has talked about Noah and the flood.  It must have been hard during that storm to hear people pleading for help/banging on the boat to get in.  It must have been hard to bounce around in choppy water for over a year...and be in a darkened/smelly space.  But you know, I'll bet they were enough in awe of what God had done for them that they didn't complain.

There is only one safe place to be in this life...and that is snuggled up under God's wing.  He has plans for our welfare and hope for the future.  Thank God this is not all there is...