Thought for Today
Psalm 83:14 As fire consumes the forest, as the flame sets the mountains ablaze, 15 so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your hurricane.
Matthew 16:2 "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' 3 And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
Acts 27:18 We were being pounded by the storm so violently that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard,
It did not make front page news here in the Boston Globe (story on page A2), but hurricane Beryl finally made landfall in Texas and cut a swath of destruction through Galveston, Houston and the surrounding areas. More than 2 million homes in the U.S.A.’s fourth largest city lost power. For some perspective, the entire state of Massachusetts has an estimated population of slightly more than 7 million. I cannot image the local consternation were almost 1 of every 4 residents of our state were without power from a single storm.
“More than 600 million people (around 10 per cent of the world’s population) live in coastal areas that are less than 10 meters above sea level. Nearly 2.4 billion people (about 40 per cent of the world’s population) live within 100 km (60 miles) of the coast.” (sustainabledevelopment.un.org)
That means that about 40% of humanity is susceptible to some sort of hurricane, typhon, nor’easter or similar coastal storm. A large number of those people are within that 10% who live in areas less than 33 feet above sea level. I can attest from personal experience, many of those Texans without power are also dealing with flooding or the immediate risk of flooding.
Beryl at one point during its rampage through the Caribbean was the earliest category 5 hurricane on record. Thankfully, before it made landfall in the U.S.A. it downgraded to only (?) a category 1 hurricane. Those ratings refer to the highest sustained windspeeds of the storm. If you have ever experienced a tropical storm, hurricane, typhon or nor’easter, you know that the distinction among categories is of minimal interest or value as you listen to the wind howl and/or the trees and branches break and become airborne.
I have studied about pressure gradients, relative humidity, wind speeds and other elements of consideration during storms. I tend to view much of our weather as elements of God’s thermodynamic heat transfer system for our planet. I have also been awake all night listening to pinecones pound our roof at speeds approaching 100 mph, heard the crunch of trees and limbs breaking.
I have also studied the Bible and taken courses in systematic theology. Both thermodynamics and scripture reinforce for me the awesomeness of our Creator God. The prophet Elijah was told, “1 Kings 19:11 ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ And that passage continues with, “Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.” I find the presence of our Creator God in the great wind, in earthquakes, in fires . . . and in the sound of sheer silence.
Our God is an awesome God. We find that echoed repeatedly in the Bible, especially in Psalms. Every time I am in a storm, I am reminded of God’s awesome power. As the psalmist reminds us, “68:35 Awesome is God in his sanctuary, the God of Israel; he gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!” I do not claim to understand the necessity of winds, hurricanes, typhons, nor’easters, earthquakes or fires within God’s Creation. I do recognize them all as part of God’s power.
But I am also aware of and constantly reminded of the awesomeness of God’s love. John 3:16! So, when I read about or experience any or all of the storms of life, I pray for the safety of everyone in the storm and I marvel at the power of our God. Today I am praying for all who experienced and will experience Beryl.
Stay safe, pray for all who suffer hurricanes and fires, trust God,
Pastor Ray