[Faith-talk] Lessons from a Hurricane

[Linda Mentink]

LESSONS FROM A HURRICANE
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                SEPTEMBER 14, 2017



The Bible teaches us to learn spiritual and moral lessons from 
the creation, which was made, among other things, as a divine 
revelation (Psa.  19:1-3; Rom.  1:20).  Everything is under God's 
control.  He upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb.  
1:3).  By Him all things consist (Col.  1:17).  He"hath his way 
in the whirlwind and in the storm" (Nahum 1:3).

We need to look at life through the lens of Scripture and always 
be learning.

Hurricane Irma hit mainland Florida on September 10.  I am a 
native Floridian and I travel there to visit Mom (age 93) and 
other relatives as often as I can.  I was scheduled to fly into 
Tampa on September 8 but cancelled the trip due to the 
approaching hurricane.  Growing up in Florida, I experienced many 
hurricanes.  As a nine year old, I was staying with my 
grandparents north of Lakeland when the eye of Donna came right 
over central Florida in 1960.  It came ashore as a category 4 
with sustained winds of 130 mph.  I remember that it came through 
at night and you couldn't see what was happening, but the 
terrible winds were frightening.  Donna damaged more than 5,000 
houses on the mainland mostly on the Gulf Coast.  Then it exited 
north Florida, increased in intensity, and hit North Carolina.

On September 8, Irma looked like it would be much, much nastier 
than that.  It was the most powerful Atlantic storm on record as 
it wreaked havoc on the Caribbean and Cuba.

Consider some lessons from a hurricane:

JUDGMENT AND CHASTISEMENT AND CALL TO REPENTANCE

>From a biblical perspective, there can be no doubt that the 
steady onslaught of"billion dollar storms"--with the loss of life 
and property and business and the mind-boggling increase in 
debt--are a judgment upon America for her moral wickedness and 
the deep compromise of her churches.  There have been more than 
200 such weather disasters since 1980.  And the cost is rising 
and the debt is rising.  One senator told the news media that 
Congress is ready to do whatever is needed for the costs of Irma, 
but that is not true.  All they will do is increase the nation's 
already unfathomable debt.

No nation since Israel of old has had such light of Scripture or 
sinned against that light so brazenly as America.  America's 
Christians should be on their knees, but mostly it is party time 
as usual, even in the face of terrible storms.

God sends trouble for many reasons, but one of those is for 
repentance.  Joel describes a judgment God sent to Israel, a 
judgment on their agriculture (Joel 1:2-4) and a judgment at the 
hand of Israel's enemies (Joel 1:6-7).  These were acts of God's 
mercy to call the people to repentance.

"Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of 
the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my 
God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden 
from the house of your God.  Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn 
assembly, gather the elders _and_ all the inhabitants of the land 
_into_ the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD" 
(Joe 1:13-14).

This is what the Almighty is saying to America, but few are 
listening.

Every Bible-believing church in America should heed the call of 
Joel 1:13-14.  It would change things.  It would change things 
greatly.

President Trump's"day of prayer" on September 3 was nothing, 
really, other than an acknowledgment that there is some sort of 
unnamed God.  The proclamation made far more ado about man's 
ability than God's.  Trump said,"As Americans, we know that no 
challenge is too great for us to overcome." He then urged 
Americans thusly:"Each of us, in our own way, may call upon our 
God for strength and comfort during this difficult time." It's a 
prayer about man, not about God.  It's a prayer that believes God 
is there only to help man.  There is no mention of the nation's 
sin against God.  No call to repentance.  No mention of Jesus 
Christ, in whose name and atonement alone a sinner can acceptably 
approach unto God.

This is not a day of prayer after the fashion of earlier times in 
American history.  The nation was birthed and carried along by 
real biblical prayer.

At least 16 times, the Continental Congress proclaimed days of 
fasting, repentance, and prayer,"and the entire American 
community repaired to their various churches on such days" (Ellis 
Sandoz, _Political Sermons of the American Founding Era_, Vol.  
1).

For example, a resolution in 1776 called upon all Americans"that 
we may, with united hearts, CONFESS AND BEWAIL OUR MANIFOLD SINS 
AND TRANSGRESSIONS, AND, BY A SINCERE REPENTANCE AND AMENDMENT OF 
LIFE, appease his [God's] righteous displeasure, and, THROUGH THE 
MERITS AND MEDIATION OF JESUS, obtain his pardon and forgiveness; 
humbly imploring his assistance to frustrate the cruel purposes 
of our unnatural enemies."

This is the type of"day of prayer" that America needs today and 
it is the only type of prayer that will bring any substantive 
change.

MERCY AND ANSWERED PRAYER

Another lesson from Irma is that God is a merciful and very 
longsuffering God.  He waited 250 years to destroy the northern 
kingdom of Israel after the wicked and brazen establishment of an 
idolatrous religion by Jeroboam (1 Kings 12).  He waited 150 
years after Ahab and Jezebel introduced Baal worship.  All that 
time, God was sending the prophets to call Israel to repentance.

I have no doubt that God answered prayer and showed great mercy 
in regard to Irma.  We cannot forget that there are still many 
God-fearing people in America, and God has mercy on the nation 
for their sake and for their prayer's sake.

The day before Irma hit, when it was a category 5 storm and when 
it looked like Florida would be devastated like the Caribbean 
islands had been devastated, some of which are currently 
uninhabitable, I sent the following note to some of my relatives:

"Grandma used to write out her prayers, which I always found to 
be interesting.  Here is mine today, 'Lord, America has sinned 
greatly against the light of your Word.  We deserve any judgment 
you give us.  But we are asking for and trusting in your mercy.  
You told us to pray, and we are looking for answered prayer.  We 
ask that this great storm will not devastate Florida and not harm 
any of your many people living there.  In the name of Jesus 
Christ, our Lord and Saviour.'"

Many others were praying.  Within hours the storm weakened and it 
hit the Florida mainland as a category 2 and not the category 4 
or 5 that was expected.  There was a lot of damage, billions of 
dollars' worth, probably, but the damage was _nothing_ compared 
to what it would have been.  One news source had the 
headline"Florida dodges a canon." Indeed.  The storm surge that 
deluged Jacksonville could have deluged every city and town on 
both coasts.  The winds from a category 4 or 5 would have ruined 
even block buildings throughout the state.  It could have 
destroyed thousands of expensive boats and tens of thousands of 
Florida's mobile homes.  It could have been a trillion dollar 
storm.

Those who are thanking"good luck" for this respite are foolish.

BENEVOLENCE

In these natural disasters, America's benevolent spirit is on 
display.  Though America has fallen far in character from what it 
was in past times because of her general rejection of God's Word, 
America is still powerfully influenced by the Bible.  Neighbor 
helps neighbor.  Strangers help strangers.  The entire nation 
responds to these things with an outpouring of compassionate 
help.

The response of the U.S.  government itself is a reflection of 
biblical values.  For the most part, the response is benevolent, 
efficient, unified, and honest.  From the local level to the 
federal, there is little corruption and self-seeking.

As an individual who has spent 28 years of his life living 
outside of America and who has traveled to about 50 countries, I 
see these things through different eyes.  Americans complain 
about their government, and there is plenty to dislike, but 
compared to South Asia or China or South America and Africa, even 
most of Europe, the U.S.  government is still the world model of 
efficiency, justice, and honesty (again, measured by the standard 
of this world, not by the standard of God's Word).  One time I 
told an Indian man in Nepal that I had never heard of anyone 
having to bribe to get a government service in America, and he 
didn't believe me!

The preparations for Irma were impressive, and the cooperation 
between the federal, state, and local governments and between 
government and business and between government and private 
entities such as th3e Red Cross and Samaritan's Purse, was 
wonderful to behold.  Tens of thousands of people moved to 
shelters as they were instructed, but everything was orderly; 
little or no pushing and shoving and fighting, not much 
self-seeking.  For the most part, it was neighbor helping 
neighbor and stranger helping stranger.  This is not man's 
natural way; it is a reflection of the powerful influence of the 
Bible upon a people.

When the famous Russian novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn visited 
America, he said,"The United States has long shown itself to be 
the most magnanimous, the most generous country in the world.  
Wherever there is a flood, an earthquake, a fire, a natural 
disaster, an epidemic, who is the first to help? The United 
States.  Who helps the most and unselfishly? The United States."

The U.S.  Department of Defense is one of the world's largest 
providers of international aid and disaster relief, and this 
reflects the nation's benevolent spirit.  A U.S.  aircraft 
carrier is en route to provide assistance to _non-American 
territories_ that were hit hard by Irma.  The U.S.  Navy has two 
massive hospital ships that are mostly devoted to aiding the 
needy.  The _USNS Mercy_ and the _USNS Comfort_"serve as 
70,000-metric-ton symbols of how much America cares as a nation 
and as a people" ("Hospital Ships," navy.com).  Converted from 
oil supertankers, the two ships originally cost $560 million.  
The ships are each 894-feet long (the length of three football 
fields) and the height of a 10-story building.  Each ship is a 
1,000-bed hospital that carries 700 medical personnel at full 
capacity.  On a visit to Southeast Asia in 2010, the _USNS Mercy_ 
treated 109,754 patients and performed 1,580 surgeries.  In 2015, 
the _USNS Comfort_ provided
care for more than 120,000 patients in 11 countries in the 
Caribbean and South and Central America.  These projects are 
funded by the U.S.  government with assistance by volunteer 
medical personnel and supplies donated by private organizations.

Such neighborly love is the fruit of the Bible on Western 
Society.

(For more about this see _The Bible and Western Society_.  This 
240-page book is available to view online, to download as a free 
eBook, or to purchase in print edition - www.wayoflife.org.)

FOREWARNING

The final lesson I would mention is that Irma is a forewarning of 
what is coming.  Isaiah 29:6 prophesies of the Great Tribulation 
when the world will be visited by God"with storm and tempest." 
Revelation 6-18 describes these terrible judgments.  Billions 
will die.

Why? Because man has sinned against God and broken His holy laws, 
beginning with the first law which is to love God with all the 
heart, soul, and strength, and most men have ignored the call of 
the gospel of Jesus Christ and have refused to repent and receive 
God's compassionate offer of salvation.  Instead of humbling 
themselves before the Creator, mankind in general has walked in 
pride.

This present situation will not long continue.  The end is near.  
In the coming day," the lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and 
the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone 
shall be exalted in that day.  For the day of the LORD of hosts 
shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every 
one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low" (Isaiah 
2:11).