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October, 2005

By the time your read this Hurricane Rita will have done its damage. As of a few minutes ago Rita is being considered a class 4 hurricane and is heading for Galveston, Texas with even greater speed and force than Hurricane Katrina.

The yahoo home page has an album of pictures: showing people removing their most valued possessions from their homes and hundreds of thousands of cars fleeing, if you can call 5 mph fleeing, Houston.

Last year similar hurricanes ravaged Florida making hundreds of thousands of people exiles. For a second consecutive year we have experienced a record breaking number of hurricanes.

Meteorologist struggle to explain why so many hurricanes and why so powerful. Some are willing to say we we're due. Others are saying it is global warming.

When Katrina brought its devastation to the gulf shore the scripture reading for that day came from the prophecy of Nahum.

Nahum pronounces God’s anger against Nineveh. This is the same Nineveh that a little over 100 years earlier God was angry at it and sent Jonah to them saying, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” The citizens of Nineveh repented of their wickedness. “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.”

Apparently they returned to their wicked ways and now Nahum has the task of telling of God’s anger against them.

“God is serious business. He won’t be trifled. He avenges His foes. He stands up against His enemies, fierce and raging. But God doesn’t lose His temper. He’s powerful, but it’s a patient power. Still no one gets by with anything. Sooner or later, everyone pays. Tornadoes and hurricanes are the wake of His passage, Storm clouds and the dust He shakes off His feet…”Nahum 1:1-3 The Message.

I have reflected several times on this passage in light of the ever increasing number and size of hurricanes and I can’t help but wonder if there is not a prophetic message that we cannot ignore.

Is God growing tired of our nation’s arrogance, our disobedience, our rebellion and injustice? Is this God’s way of showing us His discontent with legislature that attempts to redefine marriage and remove “under God” from a pledge of allegiance?

I pray that the prophetic message be heard and that as a nation we decide to live under God’s guidance, within His rules, commands and guidelines for life.
 

Prayerfully yours in Christ,