My Thoughts on Hurricane Katrina

For my fellow Christians:

Yes, I think it's safe to say that Hurricane Katrina is part of God's judgment on the US. I think 9/11 was for us an awakening that God has not been pleased by the sin in America, especially the sin that we shout here of being capable of existing without Him. I think that sin, more than any other, ignites the fires of anger in the heart of God. I think that's evident all over Scripture, but especially in the Old Testament. When Israel strayed from full reliance on God, when they sought other gods, when they thought they could make it on their own, God's wrath brought them back in repentance - through famine, through drought, through death, through the absence of His presence.

I believe we are experiencing some of that in the US these days. But I think it's bigger than that. I told my college students last night: When I heard that it is evident that oil has been spilled into the waters covering New Orleans by the rainbow effect it leaves on the top of the water, my first though was actually of Noah. And the first rainbow that God set in the sky as a visual reminder of a covenant between Him and every living thing, man and animal. His covenant with us that He would never completely destroy the earth by a flood again. He allows floods, but He promised (and is faithful to keep it) that it would never cover the entire earth ever again. And so, in the midst of an act that was indeed a judgment of sin (greater sin and wickedness than had ever been present since Creation), God's mercy came forth. It was redemptive and restorative as well as refining.

So that's why I'm blogging about Lousiana and Hurricane Katrina today. Because, yes, New Orleans is a place pretty well-known for its sinfulness, especially that which is centered around Mardi Gras. And yes, I do believe that God is judging our sin. And just like with the Israelites, many have died because of the sin of the community as a whole. There are several examples in Scripture when the sin of one person, just one, affected the entire community. One I read about last night was Miriam in Numbers 12 - check it out. And so even though we may not all be at fault, we are all sinners, and we are all part of this community called America. And so we are all held responsible. Because even if we haven't partaken, all of us have allowed it - by ignoring it rather than correcting it, by accepting it as "how things are in a fallen world" rather than fighting, taking up our sword and shield and really battling against it.

(Maybe that's easy for me to say on a computer screen. And I confess, it's a lot harder to do. Because I have to admit and confess that I'm undergoing conviction from my own words. I, too, have been apathetic toward the degree of sin our culture has allowed and invited in. I, too, have just summed it up to "the way things are" in this world.)

But there's one other thing I need to say. It's a word of warning that I believe the LORD gave me today. It is this:

Do not let your understanding of punishment for sin cause you to forget that God is merciful. That He is slow to anger and abounding in love and forgiveness. Just as with Noah, God's purposes in this speak just as loudly of His love, forgiveness, grace, and mercy as His judgment of sin. God's plans for those affected by Katrina overflow with promises and the hope of redemption.

I have prayed in faith that not one more person in Lousiana and Mississippi and anywhere else along the path of Katrina's destruction, not one more will perish. That all who are alive today will remain so. And that beyond that, not one more will perish spiritually. That everyone affected by this storm will be part of the thousands upon thousands who stand before God and proclaim:

"Holy Holy Holy, Is the Lord God Almighty,

Who Was, And Is, And Is To Come!!!"

"For God so loved the world,

that He gave His One and Only Son,

that whoever believes in Him, will not perish,

but have eternal life.

For God did not send His Son into the world

to condemn the world,

but to save the world

through Him!"

John 3:16-17