Hurricanes – Connected to God?

This week … the east coast of the US had an earthquake and now most of it is either in the middle of a hurricane or preparing for a hurricane.

After feeling the earth tremble and watching Irene’s destruction and/or forecast …

Some pray.

Some prepare.

Some pray and prepare.

To some … it’s just life.

To others … it’s just weather.

To others … it’s global warming.

And others think it might be connected to God.

The connection-to-God thing is what has me confused.

I’m not surprised about people connecting weather to God … I’m familiar with that since most of my life has been lived in Christian circles where everything is part of God’s plan … from a sale on beach chairs to abuse to the latest iPhone to hurricanes.

Many of my family and friends see weather as a direct ‘conversation’ from God, but I don’t. I tend to view weather simply as weather — a natural occurrence due to the atmospheric conditions.

Prayer during times like this brings comfort to many, so I’m not discrediting prayer, but watching the storm and watching the various responses from Christians is what has me confused. (italicized words are from Twitter, Facebook or blogs)

Some pray privately …

Go to your private room, close your door and pray – Matt 6:6 (Twitter)

Some shout …

Hear the sound of my shouting, my King and my God, because I’m praying to you. - Psalm 5:2 (Twitter)

But don’t get demanding …

Tell God what you want. But never tell Him how to get it done. (Facebook)

Maybe giving money will add value to your prayer …

Please #PrayForIrene and make a #donation … (Twitter)

Some imply God is master of the hurricane …

May the Master of the winds be kind to everyone. (Facebook)

While some would imply Irene and God are in a battle … (Facebook)

Some imply Christians are protected …

“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.” MT 7:25 (Facebook) (this received many likes and amens – which made me feel bad for Christians who have storm damage)

Some say God is trying to get our attention …

Ok GOD – we are hearing you!! Earthquake and Hurricane in same week … People, you better get your heart straight and remember our Creator. (Facebook)

Others say God is happy …

God is in a good mood! I don’t believe that the recent earthquake and the pending hurricane are “judgments from God.”… I believe these natural events  are the groanings of the earth in anticipation and reaction to the revealing of the Sons and Daughters of God as they step into the authority He has given us to walk in. (Facebook)

But the hurricane is the one that is out of line …

It’s time for God’s children to speak to the storm …  Storms are part of nature, created by God, but sometimes they need to be subdued and with respect, commanded to take their proper boundaries. (Facebook)

And more prayers are needed …

8 deaths attributed to hurricane #Irene so far. We still need to pray. (Twitter)

But some get tired of praying …

Tired of allowing Irene to control my thoughts. Whatever God has planned will execute nothing we can do besides pray. (Twitter)

And some don’t pray for everyone …

My prayers are with everyone in the path – except O and MO. (on a blog prayer forum) (reading the blog I realized O and MO meant Obama and Michelle Obama)

And of course, Glenn has an opinion … Irene is God’s blessing because it reminds us to be prepared with food …

.

Yes all this confuses me.

So instead I will read satire …

Like this piece from Matthew from Jesus Needs New PR … “Okay, East Coast, it’s official: God’s put you on his geographical poop list. Now, don’t fret about this; it happens to most geographical locations at one point or another. Now, there’s no exact science to figuring out which areas of the world God hates the most—though you’re not quite at Toledo’s level yet—however, I do think that Tuesday’s earthquake suggests God’s current hatred for you …

Because sometimes satire makes more sense than trying to decide if I should pray quietly or shout … if I’m protected or not … if I should tell the wind to be calm or if God should tell the wind to be calm … or wait, did God cause the wind in the first place?

I’m confused … are you?
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  • Gwyn McVay

    I don’t even understand that Twitter hashtag. Pray FOR Irene? If somebody is praying FOR me, I assume they mean they want good things to happen to me. Why would anyone want good things to happen to a hurricane? (I know, Twitter syntax is necessarily compressed, but unclear language bugs me.)

    What I really don’t understand, though, is the mentality that would cheerfully allow for a storm to kill a President one merely disagrees with, and the woman who happens to have been married to him since before he was President. Note also that the death-by-hurricane of the Obamas would leave two children orphaned, unless the ill-wisher is perfectly content for Sasha and Malia to be washed away in the storm too. How far is this person willing to extend their personal wrath? Mrs. O’s mother and brother, too, because they’re related to a woman who is married to a President… where does the ridiculousness stop?

    • http://www.JanetOberholtzer.com Janet Oberholtzer

      Yes, Twitter language is compressed … and while I haven’t seen an official definition of Pray for Irene … I would think it means pray for everyone in its path. 

      Yes, the fact that someone would believe in prayer, but would actively choose not to pray for certain people is sad indeed. But then decide to post about it .. what’s with that? 

  • @leamansterms

    And unsolicited last night, my 7 year old asked me… “but dad… doesn’t the Bible say God would never flood us again”

    • http://www.JanetOberholtzer.com Janet Oberholtzer

      Good point … your 7 year old is thinking.

  • http://www.madebydenise.wordpress.com Denise Smedley

    This was awesome.  So witty and well composed.  Love it!

    On my end, it’s always a “sign” of the end. 

    What bugs me about that is all of us comfy and cozy Americans can view any inconvenience as a sign of the end…

    For people in Afghanistan or other dangerous countries… there must be signs smacking them in the face 24/7/365 … ya know? 

    People go shouting Armageddon for some wind or an earthquake… what about those people that are getting bombed while we’re over here getting tans at the beach?

    It’s amazing.. people don’t realize how small their perspective is of the world.

    • http://www.JanetOberholtzer.com Janet Oberholtzer

      Thanks Denise … I know what you mean about the ‘signs’ that many find everywhere. I’ve seen and heard too many ‘signs’ being twisted to work into someone’s planned agenda to put too much faith in them. 

  • http://kclanderson.com KCLAnderson (Karen)

    GREAT post! I was going to comment earlier, but got caught up in preparing for Irene and then dealing with her (our power was out for ~12 hours). 

    A while back I heard something somewhere about how very vast the universe is…I think it was something by Stephen Hawking…and he described it in such a way that made it clear that our little solar system (which is freaking huge) is just a teensy tiny pin prick of light compared to everything else. And when I think about that, I really don’t get why people say things like, “God bless America.” At the very least, God, please bless our planet. But seriously God…I really do understand that you’re nothing more than energy.