Katrina Response #4

"LISTEN TO ME"

Hurricanes bring out the best or worst in each of us. Some start telethons for Katrina's victims. Others loot appliance stores. Some curse God for storms. Others praise Him for safety. Many risk their lives to save others. All of us feel a mixture of sadness, thankfulness and guilt as the tragedy unfolds on the Gulf Coast.

Sadness comes as we see the devastation and feel the human pain. Thankfulness comes as we thank God that "this one" avoided Central Florida. Guilt arrives in the midst of our thanksgiving prayers.

"How can I thank God for letting Katrina pound New Orleans rather than us?" "How come He let Charlie hit Orlando anyway?" "Are the hurricanes punishment for our sins?" "Where is God when we need Him?" “What keeps the veneer of civilization on my life?”

There is no Biblical support for the assumption that God uses hurricanes to discipline His misbehaving children. But, many Bible stories and prophecies describe how God comes to our rescue, even when we're making bad choices.

"Listen to Me," He says in chapter 51 of Isaiah. "Listen to me, all you who are serious about right living and committed to seeking God...I will comfort you. I will comfort all your mounds of ruins. I'll transform your dead ground into Eden and your moonscape into the garden of God, a place filled with exuberance and laughter, thankful voices and melodic songs."

Spaceship earth is running out of gas. The skies are fading out like smoke, the ground wearing out like well-used work pants, and the people dying like flies. "But, listen to me," God says. "My setting-things-right will never be obsolete, and my salvation goes on and on forever."

Hurricanes bring out the best or worst in each of us. The "worst" comes when we allow fear, despair, anger, and greed to control our hearts and actions. The "best" is when we listen to God's promises and allow His compassion to drive our actions. That compassion sends hundreds of Florida Hospital employees to Mississippi, fills Red Cross accounts with funds for feeding/housing/clothing/bandaging, and transforms the words of our prayers.

"Right now this place is a disaster, Lord. Please, remake it into a Garden of Eden. And, please hurry."

Dick Duerksen
Assistant Vice President
Mission development
Florida Hospital