Tornados

Tuesday night a storm, with high winds and several tornadoes, ripped across parts of the United States, killing many people and destroying a great deal of property.  Much of that happened in my home state of Tennessee.   Actually, one of the tornadoes was in line to tear through Nashville, the city I live in.  But for whatever reason, it skipped over us.

People in this part of the country can be deeply biblically religious, and they will either give thanks to God for being spared from the storm’s devastation, believing their faith saved them, or they will call on God for the strength to carry on after suffering greatly, as the storm devastated their lives.  There will be some who will lose their faith in God because He did not protect them, as they felt He should.  And, they may chose to no longer believe in God, and may carry a heart of anger towards God for the rest of their lives. 

But, is any of this really about God?   Is it really about us humans?   Do the natural forces of our planet act against our immoral tendencies?   God is sometimes said to be capricious - that there is no rhyme or reason to His actions.  But perhaps that is because we give God too much credit for what happens in our lives.  Do we succeed because God likes us?  Do we win against others in the competitions of life because God prefers us to others?

When you compare all human lives you see that God does not judge by such narrow parameters.   Sometimes good Godly people succeed, and sometimes immoral people succeed.  Failure happens the same way.  At least as we define such terms at “good” and “immoral.”  But I don’t believe God uses our dictionary, not from all the evidence I’ve seen.   We humans put a great importance on labels, and statements, but God finds importance in conformity to His will.

Some people who label themselves “Christian” are as far from God as any heathen.  And yet some people labeled “heathen” will no doubt spend eternity with God because they have the will of God on their hearts and act accordingly.   Some people believe that the Bible is the only, and final, word of God. But, by limiting God to the confines of the Bible, they miss out on the fullness of a dynamic relationship with him.  

Declarations of the devineness of the Bible are incorrect, comely mostly from weak minded men in an attempt to make life easier for themselves.  Proof has been provided, again and again, that the Bible is of man, and God’s intervention in its creation is lacking.  In his book, Misquoting Jesus, Bart D. Ehrman shows, with easy-to-understand proof, the ordinariness of the Bible. Now, don’t get me wrong, the Bible is a powerful and important book which every believer should know and understand. But, just as we know today that the Earth is not the center of the universe - actually the earth is just an insignificant spec of dust on the edge of a might galaxy, and that galaxy is just an insignificant spec of dust in an infinite universe - on the same scale we have to admit to the smallness, and limitations, of our understanding of the fullness of God and his plans for us.  The Bible, in its limit of pages, can not get us there.  For all the good it is, the Bible is not magic, nor a miracle.  It is not God’s final word to us. Certainly, we can find as much truth in today’s writings, by today’s men and women.   It is important that we prayerfully consider everything we read - judging it to be from God, or not - whether it be in the Bible, or Christianity Today.  The Bible can be the beginning of our relationship with God, but not the end. By all means, let us grow to know even more about God, and grow closer to Him.

The taking, or giving, of life is not God’s measure of a person. Many great people, even on a Godly scale, have lives short lives. Although Methuselah lived for hundreds of years, Jesus lived only 33. Certainly, God has a purpose for us all. God takes us when He is ready. Regardless of what we think on the matter.

Matthew 5:45 - He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.