Hurricane Sandy: The role of God

 "...Fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word!" Psalm 148:8

"This is God’s “October Surprise.” Hurricane Sandy is a potentially historic, catastrophic, monstrous, devastating storm." This is how a blog of a Christian author I respect began. By definition, an "October Surprise," is a news event with the potential to influence the outcome of an election, particularly one for the U.S presidency."  The blog was written just prior to Hurricane Sandy making landfall on the East Coast of the United States. It seems every time that a natural disaster threatens, people from all walks of life and every faith attribute it to God. Now, I cannot say that God did not send the storm, but neither can anyone say that He did, much less determine what His reasons for sending the storm might be. Often times people say this to justify their own preconceived notions about the events going on in the world. Christians are just as susceptible to this sort of thing as the next person. Personally, I believe there are many Christians, including this author, who mistake the United States for being some sort of modern-day nation of Israel. The Bible is full of moments where God used weather to influence people or as a sign of His power. However, under the New Covenant, God is more interested in people coming to a saving faith in Jesus Christ rather than trying to influence Presidential Elections, in my opinion. 

You see, many Christians, including myself, believe ourselves to have a biblical worldview. By that I mean we have a conservative view on social issues, primarily, as well as fiscally (i.e. small government, less spending, etc.). By socially conservative, I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, that homosexuality is a sinful choice and that life begins in the womb, to name just a few. Therefore, Christians will see that over the past generation the definition of biblical marriage is being attacked, abortion has become the norm and homosexuality is accepted as a lifestyle. This trend has traditionally been due to social liberals, i.e. Democrats. Therefore, when you have a Democrat President, like Barack Obama, who has not been ashamed of his support for gay marriage and abortion, combined with what many in the conservative community see as a destructive economic policy, you will have Christians believing that a natural disaster is some sort of divine wake-up call. There is little doubt that God uses life-changing moments to shake all of us up. However, his reason for doing so may not be the reasons this author believes. 

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)." The will of God is that people accept Jesus Christ as their savior. I do not believe He will send a catastrophic hurricane in order to accomplish this desire, but He can use a catastrophic hurricane to reach people with Jesus Christ. We have all heard sayings like, "Pull yourself up by your bootstraps." It is designed to encourage people to never give up and to keep trying to make it in this life. While I am sure this saying has motivated many people, the downfall of it is that it keeps people always believing that they can do things in their own strength. Less than one week after Hurricane Sandy hit, 30,000 to 40,000 people could be homeless in New York, over a hundred people are dead, people are without electricity, there is no gas, criminals are looting and the weather is only getting worse. When people lose everything, including the basic necessities in life, the only thing left is the Lord. When all that you have relied on is gone and you are powerless to do anything about it, crying out to God is the last resort. As tough as it is to watch people suffer so terribly in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, God is there and can use it to reach people with the message of Jesus Christ. There are even reports that Christians and church groups are the only ones to respond in some of these storm-stricken locations. 

I am probably safe in saying that the author who suggests that God is trying to influence the presidential election desires that Governor Mitt Romney wins. However, this brings up another dilemma. If God is indeed trying to influence the election, why would He be wanting a Mormon to win? For the majority of evangelical Christians, many of which are the same conservative Christians I have been mentioning, Mormonism is a cult. Therefore, we would have to say that God wants a man in the White House who believes in a different Jesus than the Jesus of the Bible! There are candidates running for President who have a faith more in line with biblical Christianity. Why wouldn't God intervene and make sure this candidate won the election? Given the fact that third Party candidates have little chance of winning the Presidency, one would have a better argument for God pulling an "October Surprise" if they were to win the election. Fire, hail, snow, mist and wind have all been seen during and after Hurricane Sandy. God is using all of it to fulfill His Word. Let us be mindful of the fact that the point of His Word is to tell people about Jesus Christ not influence political elections.