Disaster Response
Fireworks, not lightning.
Disaster is all around us. Those of you who work in the fields of health care or education probably receive regular training and practice drills to prepare you in case of a disaster at your place of work. More specifically, you receive training and practice drills to prepare you to help others in case of a disaster.
Throughout the Bible God reports disaster after disaster – from the Egyptian exodus to the Babylonian exile, from wars launched by pagan, power-hungry kings to wind and waves smashing water and fear into the frightened faces of storm-tossed disciples. And in the middle of these disasters God puts his people – Moses, Daniel, Joshua, Paul … and you.
God puts us there as participants of disaster for one primary purpose. He revealed this purpose to Moses during the exodus. As God instructed Moses to stretch out his hands over the waters of the sea to divide them for safe crossing, he said, “The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord” (Exodus 14:4).
Disaster holds divine purpose.
In the same way, God revealed his purpose for the apostle Paul at the beginning of his ministry: “This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:15,16).
Disaster, in Paul’s personal life, would hold divine purpose both for him, for his companions, and millions today who read his story. As a Christian, you are prepared for disaster when you trust that God is working in it, and you can tell that to others.
In what disasters of your life have you lost faith like the disciples in the storm? Why did you think Jesus wasn’t paying attention? Why did you even consider that powers of nature – illness, weather, death, time – had gained mutiny control of their Creator? In the words of Jesus himself, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith” (Mark 4:40)? Jesus puts us, his disciples, in the middle of disasters not to implode under the pressure of fear, but to explode like fireworks lighting up the sky, showing the beauty and awe that can come out of chaos. Jesus puts us in the center of disasters for a divine purpose, as his chosen instruments to carry his name before people.
First, however, Jesus put himself in the center of the ultimate disaster – the sin and guilt of sinners – and made himself the target of God’s angry lighting bolts directed at our sins. By his powerful blood and resurrection he calmed that storm forever, as if speaking the words, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind and wave of guilt and fear swirling within us or around us is not real guilt but a lie of the devil. So don’t be afraid. The storm of sin is done.
Disasters will come, and the booms and the flashes of light are not lighting at all but the fireworks of God putting your faith on display for others to see.
With saving love Jesus has made your problem his problem. When faced with disaster the apostle Paul did the same for his shipmates in a typhoon at sea as reported in Acts 27. “Keep up your courage because not one of you will be lost.”
Despite Paul’s previous advice to the crew that they not try to keep sailing they did, and now they were in trouble. Paul reminds them of that only to build credibility for what he was about to tell them. Only to make their problem his problem. “Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me.” Paul tells them, “I belong to this God,” explaining his calm confidence during a storm. He then adds, “I serve this God,” because life for Paul isn’t ultimately about Paul, Paul’s agenda, Paul’s business, Paul’s career, Paul’s dreams, Paul’s promotion, or Paul’s retirement but Paul serves God, who saved Paul and has chosen Paul for a divine purpose.
When you follow God’s message and God’s mission no disaster can reroute you from a fulfilled, meaningful, courageous journey that takes you places you’d never find on your own. The angel gave Paul a message and mission, “Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.”
Keep up your courage. You belong to God, not to disaster.
PRAYER: Teach me to remember that disasters will come, God. They will come even as you organize the weather and orchestrate nature. They will come even as you watch them wreak their havoc. But you promise that they are your servants. And if they serve you, then they serve me. Help me believe that! Amen.