Deutero Q

(The following blog entry on hurricanes and sovereignty is one I reworked a bit. At the time I wrote it, folks here in south Texas were bracing for Hurricane Emily. Please pray for the folks who are in the path of Hurricane Katrina. This appears to be one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the United States.)

Hurricane Katrina appears to be bearing down on those who live in the coastal region of Mississippi and Louisiana, especially the city of New Orleans (which sits below sea level). As folks are in the process of evacuating and many are bracing for a devastating hurricane, I have been reflecting on the connection between the sovereignty of God and weather.

It is clear from the Bible that nature does not have its own will but is under the control of Almighty God. Consider the biblical evidence:

"He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.... He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow."

--Psalm 147:8; 16-18

--Isaiah 45:7

"When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses."
--Jeremiah 10:13

"The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm and clouds are the dust of his feet."
--Nahum 1:3

"He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."
--Matthew 5:45

"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word."
--Hebrews 1:3

The biblical witness is clear: it is Father God (not "mother nature") who is in charge of the weather. God certainly has the power to stop hurricanes. On the other hand, God may, as part of His sovereign plan, allow hurricanes to wreak their awful havoc (which from our limited point of view may seem incomprehensible).

This would be a good time to consider Isaac Watts' great hymn, I Sing the Mighty Power of God, especially the second verse: "There's not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known; and clouds arise and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne; while all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care, and everywhere that man may be, Thou, God, art present there."