We
all have our opinions on natural disasters especially if it affects us
directly, even christians who have lost their homes from earthquakes or
hurricane might ask this question.....did God create this natural
disaster? was it meant to affect me? did God forsake me? Natural
Disasters occurs in various degrees of
destruction which includes earthquakes, floods, landslides, hail storms,
sinkholes, wildfires, and deadly tornadoes. Jamaica in
recent years has seen a rush of disasters as hurricanes, fire and
drought conditions. And these catastrophes are not in Jamaica alone, but
happening around the globe.Various reasons are offered to
explain the phenomena. Some argue its global warming. Others say it's
always been this way and the natural cycle of things, it's only that the
reporting is much better today and we hear about these events more
often. Still, anyone with a little age and experience, or any one
simply willing to carefully consider matters, finds it a bit hard to
believe that what's been occurring of late is merely the natural cycle
of things. The succession and intensity of these incidents have rightly
caused people to sense something isn't right in the earth, and the
scientific data alone can't effectively elucidate the cause.
In the Old
Testament describes a time much like our own,
when the people of Israel were wondering why so many natural calamities
had befallen them. Like many in our own day, they had considered every
possible cause but God. Certainly such explanations for the string of latest
natural disasters,
despite the fact that many of them have been
apocalyptic in type, would
soundly be rejected by most today people who would never agree that
God was somehow responsible. God is too loving, too kind, too
compassionate, too gentle to ever do such a thing,
they say. Natural disasters are not in themselves evil or a failure of God.
A classic example of this is earthquakes. An earthquake causes massive
damage to humans and can result in extreme losses of life. The fact is,
however, that earthquakes are a part of the processes that keep the
earth living and suitable for life. Land masses wear down with time
because of rain, snow, freezing, heating, glaciers, landslides, and
gravitational forces. If there were no forces that lift the land to
replenish the worn away parts, after a while all land on the earth would
be under water. Because the earth is liquid inside, land is constantly
being lifted to replace the land that is worn down. Man's problem is that rather than understanding these
processes as natural and beneficial, we tend to worship the forces and
ignore the common sense lessons all around us. If you build
your house in flood prone area you have no complaint when flooding occurs. People continue to ignore the warnings of nature and
the lessons
of the past. The results are frequently catastrophic. Draining
wet-lands, building huge structures that alter climate, and placing
massive structures over fault zones in the earth have resulted in
tragedy for humans. God placed humans on the earth with instructions to take care of the
earth to dress it and keep it (see Genesis 2: 15). That means not to
abuse the earth, but to use it wisely and carefully. In this way we
can be at peace with
our environment.
Western civilization has too
often allowed greed and selfishness to be the guiding force. Instead we
need to have a love for what God has created and a desire to take care
of it and live at peace with it.
