Even in disaster, the

essence of God is . . love

by LeRoy the Tramp

 

 

            Where was God when Hurricane Katrina was tearing up lives and destroying New Orleans and adjacent areas of the Gulf Coast?

 

            Where was God during the 9-11 terrorist attack?

 

            Why does God let bad things happen to people?

 

            Those are tough questions, but they’re ones we hear – and ponder - in times like these.  The gruesome images on TV make even ol’ LeRoy stop smiling while he reflects on how God works in our lives.

 

            Was Satan at work as Katrina slammed ashore? Sure . . . but Satan can’t kill without God’s permission. So then, is God responsible? It’s OK to ask Him. God is large. He can handle any question.

 

            God sends hurricanes. But people chose to build a major American city below sea level, and others along coastlines where hurricanes come.

 

            Is it fair that 10 civilians die for every soldier who is killed in the modern world’s wars? The Carter Center in Atlanta furnishes those figures, also pointing out that at any given moment, there are about 110 conflicts going on in the world, 30 of which produce 1,000 or more deaths per year.

 

            Does God cause those wars? Or do people, who insist on having things their way?

 

            In Africa, people are dying by the thousands because of starvation, disease and war, while Western cameras are focused mostly on less unsettling things north of the equator. Governments in those countries frustrate many attempts to settle disputes and make progress. That makes it easier for us to look the other way.

 

Right in our own backyard, people whom we know are suffering. Friends and loved ones die before what we think is their time.

 

            What sense can we make of it?

 

            Ever since Eden, we have lived in a fallen world. The Bible tells us we all are sinners and that sin brings death and separation from God.

 

            Why some are chosen to have lives of luxury while other peoples endure generations of suffering and hardship is a question we won’t have fully answered until we talk to Jesus in Heaven. But we know that we are not promised an earthly life free of pain, suffering and death.

 

            Heaven is our hope. Our Christian faith is that there is no pain, suffering or death there.

 

            It may be that God uses death, disease and suffering to test us while we’re still on earth. How will we react as a nation, as individuals . . .to Katrina’s aftermath? God may be testing us now, to see how much responsibility we can be given in Heaven.

 

            The glorious thing is that we can even get to Heaven. We do that by accepting that Jesus is God’s son and that He came to earth to pay for our sins.

 

            The very essence of God is contained at the start of the John 3:16 verse, “For God so loved . . .”

 

            God is love. God gave Moses ten commandments. Jesus gave us what many believe is the eleventh commandment in Luke 10:27: “ . . Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

 

            If we filter our world through God, making Him first in everything we do, the rest of our lives will get in line. If we could have perfect love, we wouldn’t violate any of the ten commandments! It wouldn’t be possible!

 

            Jesus’ perfect love was demonstrated repeatedly by His giving nature. It so moved Paul that he wrote perhaps the most beautiful words in all the Bible in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. If you haven’t read that, please do, and pray that you might make it a part of you.

 

            We won’t be perfect while we’re on earth. But we can work at it. Perfect love gives without a thought of return.

 

            By ourselves, we can’t restore the twin towers in New York and all the lives that were lost. We can’t make the hurt go away in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. But we can help.     

 

And, we can visit the lonely neighbor down the street, or arrange for a meal for a suffering family. That’s love . .. and it’s a way to start. God will notice, even if our world in general does not. He will be pleased! Let us be at prayer:

 

            Lord, make my life a window

            For your light to shine through,

            And a mirror

to reflect your love to all I meet.

-         Amen

 

LeRoy the Tramp is Keith Brake of Montezuma, Iowa. He and his wife, Linda, are the Kingdom Klowns of Iowa. Keith is a speaker and  writer, and the Kingdom Klowns of Iowa are Christian and family entertainers who can perform skits, do full church services, balloon sculpturing and more at Christian and secular events. They can be visited online at www.clownsiniowa.com