My response to Hurricane Michael’s devastation

I had planned to lead today’s Daily Article with good news in the news. There has been so much unrest and chaos in recent headlines that it seemed appropriate to find something uplifting to report.

Then Hurricane Michael strengthened into the strongest hurricane ever to strike the Florida Panhandle. It was nearly a Category 5 storm when it slammed into the coastline, with hurricane impacts as it continued into Georgia. As measured by barometric pressure, it is the third-strongest storm ever to strike the United States. The National Weather Service has called it “a catastrophic and unprecedented event.”

And so, once again we find ourselves struggling to find God at work in our fallen world. We know the facts: This world is broken because of sin (Romans 8:22), not because of any failure on God’s part. There were no hurricanes in the Garden of Eden. One day our Lord will make a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1).

But why does he allow such devastation in our present world? It would be different if Jesus had not calmed the stormy Sea of Galilee or performed other physical miracles. Then we would be forced to live with the fact that our planet is simply broken and will not be fixed until its Creator returns.

However, our Lord retains sovereign control over his creation, so that not even a sparrow “will fall to the ground apart from your Father” (Matthew 10:29). All he could ever do, he can still do.

Why, then, are the people in Florida and the Southeast facing this disaster? Why are you facing your storms and suffering today?

Why did Jesus raise so few?

Max Lucado makes this surprising observation: “Jesus healed hundreds, fed thousands, but so far as we know He only raised three: the daughter of Jairus, the boy near Nain, and Lazarus. Why so few?”

Lucado offers these possibilities: “Could it be because He knew He’d be doing them no favors? Could it be because He couldn’t get any volunteers? Could it be that once someone…