Ways To Deal With Disaster
We have two choices
Laws of nature were put into place when God created the universe. If we jump off a cliff, the law of gravity will cause us to fall. Climate affects our weather patterns of rain, snow, fog, and drought. The weather can result in flooding, power outages, tornado destruction, crop failure, and personal property damage. No one on this planet is safe from calamity.
Some of life is beautiful, but some things are horrid.
God made the world perfect, but we polluted it with sin. We turned away from God and gave our devotion to things created by Him. Sin is splattered even on innocent children. God loves us and wants what is best. However, even His own Son bled with the cruel beating and nails driven into His hands and feet. Jesus moaned in pain. When His strength was gone, and He could no longer fill His lungs with air, He died a physical death, just like us.
It was not an angry, vengeful God who placed this agony on His only Son, but the Creator went through the pain as nails were driven into the hands and feet of Jesus. The Creator of the Universe could have annihilated us, but instead, He felt we were worthy of redemption. If He was angry, it was at the consequences that sin caused His beloved children.
Now we know that because Jesus was God in the flesh, and God was the flesh of Jesus, He had the power to get off that cross. He had already shown His control over the weather when He calmed the storm and gravity by walking on water. Yet, out of His love for us, He subjected Himself to the very nature He put into place. Think about that for a moment.
So why do we blame God when things go wrong? Do we think we deserved better than God Himself?
We live in a world with sin, suffering, pain, and death. When we become Christians, we are not immune to these things. We are also not resistant to natural disasters. We pray for certain things, thinking that what God should do is clear to us. Forces of nature put into place have their way.
Then you will be acting like your Father in heaven. He makes the sun rise on both good and bad people. And he sends rain for the ones who do right and for the ones who do wrong. (Matthew 5:45, CEV)
Instead of blaming God for the ugly things, we should give Him the broken pieces. However, He loves us enough to give us free will. He never forces us to submit ourselves to Him, but if we do, He will pick up the pieces, give us the strength to endure, and help us gain godly attributes we didn’t even realize we lacked. On the other end of our tests, we are better equipped than before the trials.
One way God equips us is by helping us to love even our enemies.
A Personal Story
I know a lady who went through years of trial and tribulation. She was a victim of a husband who was abusive, deceptive, a drug user, and unfaithful. Because she was a Christian, she felt she must try all avenues to save the marriage. She finally removed herself from the situation. She continued to pray for her husband and his family, and extended grace and love, and never used retribution or revenge. She spoke the truth even if it hurt her case and never used the ugly tactics used on her. We prayed for many years for justice and eyes to be opened to the truth. God did finally answer. This lady is a perfect example of Christ’s love in her.
Some disasters come from the hands of another person. They can steal, kill, destroy, and falsely defame us. Suddenly, we feel the effects of their hurricane force — wreaking havoc in our lives. How do we deal with this kind of tragedy?
We have two choices.
Choice one: We can carry all our pain and suffering and become bitter, angry, vengeful, hateful, or discouraged. But if we choose this path and continue to suffer, we may go to our grave miserable.
Choice two: We can load up all that pain and give it to God. We can live a life that still is mingled with pain, suffering, and death, but we also have someone who helps us to carry our heavy load. He will comfort, guide, and heal our emotional wounds. He will give us His Spirit of forgiveness and love, even for our enemies. We can go to the grave with peace, knowing the Lord will never leave us, even in death.
Both good and evil people are subjected to tribulation, but what we do with the result of our misfortunes is a choice.
