In the Eye of the Tornado

Our church took a group to Ringgold, GA on Saturday to help with the continued clean-up going on there in the aftermath of the tornado several weeks ago. The impact on the community were simply devastating. The destructive path the tornado left was mind boggling, as you can see:

That photo is from a neighborhood that probably looks a lot like the one you and live in. Just normal folks who worked hard to build or buy a house and it's simply gone. About the only question that comes to mind when you see that kind of destruction is "Why?" It's natural to ask, "Why would a God that loves us so much allow such a terrible thing to happen?" My oldest son wondered this when the tornadoes ripped through Alabama and Georgia. He said to me, "Doesn't God control the weather?"

He really hit on the key word there: control. There is a big difference between controlling and being in control. I'm in control of my family, but I don't control everything my boys do. God is in control, but He is not a controlling God. That's because God gave us control. God gave us freedom. Freedom to to choose. Freedom to do things our way. A long time ago, we humans chose disobedience. God promised that if we disobeyed, death would enter the world. A world with tornadoes, tragedy, and murder is not the world God imagined. It's the world we created out of our disobedience. Our sin threw the universe off it's axis. But, be encouraged, help is on the way.

Jesus is the answer to that problem. Jesus is the step God has taken to begin redeeming the world and reconciling all creation to him. In Him there is a promise of a world turned back to the way God invisioned, without tornadoes or tears or death. And in the midst of that, our response HAS to be being a part of His redemptive work in the world. For me, and for our church, it meant taking a crew to Ringgold and standing on a forklift to cut down limbs in the yard of a sweet little old lady, Frances, who is lucky the limbs fell on her fence and not her home.

The Church can't stop a tornado, but we can be determined to not let it win. God is calling you to be a part of His redemption of the world, abroad, in another state, or maybe across the street. There will come a day when good will win and there will be no more tragedy and things will be set back in place the way they orginally intended. But we can start the process now. Where is God calling you to be a part of the story of his redemption of the world?