The headlines screamed “God, why have you done this to us?” and “God hates us!” in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and Winter Nor’Easter Athena. If Sandy was a punch in the face, Athena was a sucker punch to the gut. There are millions still without power nearly two weeks later. The scapegoat, as usual when things of this nature happen, is God. While I believe God either causes or allows everything that takes place in time, I do not believe He was punishing the East Coast. If that were the case, He would have pounded Sodom & Gomorrah relentlessly up to their ultimate destruction. God punishes the unrepentant in the end; however, these storms were part of life. There is no mother nature. There is God.
In a world where everyone want explanations so they can understand, we will probably never understand the ways of God. Why did this have to happen? Storms form and happen as a part of daily life. Is it due to global warming? I don’t believe that. I know God and I know that bad things happen to good people on a daily basis. Job, from the Old Testament, had some serious tribulation, perhaps similar to that which has happened to some in our area. His response was never to curse God. Frankly, I can’t begin to understand why things like this happen, but life is not some nirvana-like existence filled with pleasure, blessings and satisfaction. Life is hard. When Adam & Eve sinned and were tossed from the Garden of Eden, their disobedience made it hard for us all throughout time. I choose to believe that. So in the aftermath of such devastation, we should look to God, not cast Him aside as some malevolent deity who gets enjoyment out of poking us until we bleed. Maybe we place too much importance on things rather than the creator of all things. Just sayin’ …
