Grace in Calamity

As I look outside the window the distant billowing smoke buoys in such an arresting way. Last night the orange flames from the distant hills started to be visible from the campus as the rushing winds continued to blow in every direction. For those of you who have not heard, the wild fires are now also in Santa Clarita. The school hasn't been evacuated yet and prayerfully there will be no need to. Several people have already lost their homes, two of whom I know (one from my church, and another from my school). As all of this is going on, a pivotal question confronts us, Christian and non-Christian alike. How should we view this phenomenon? Solomon writes
"For as he thinks within himself, so he is." Proverbs 23:7a

In essence, the way that we filter through what is going on around us, including fires, says a lot about our heart and our relationship with God. Some of the people in the affected areas have been evacuated to Saugus high school (about a 15 minute drive from school). I went there last night with Dan and Ryan to see if there was anything we could do to help the red cross. We spent about two hours helping with setting up beds and blankets for those who were coming in. There was so much worry and dejection writen on some of the faces as the sheriff's department gave updates on the efforts being made to put out the fires and save homes. By 10.30pm we were pretty much all set up and we decided to talk to people and see if the Lord would provide opportunities for sharing the gospel. After talking with a couple of elderly ladies we found ourselves engaged in a two hour conversation with a Jewish man with whom we were able to share the gospel with. We came back around 1.30am.

So what am I learning from all of this? My first response when the fires started and the winds unleashed their power was that of praise. Praise to a powerful God to whom the elements were testifying of.

"The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world In them He has placed a tent for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat. " (Psalm 19:1-6)

We call this general revelation, in which God makes Himself known through His creation. As we see it we are pointed to God. The God of this creation is a powerful God who controls even the wind and fires. We should thus be driven to worship Him as the source of all creation and the one who upholds and sustains all things.

The second thing that I thought about was that of petition. God uses events like these to bring people to Himself and to arouse them to the reality that we are dependent o Him. It is at times like these that perhaps people may start asking questions about God and even be driven to prayer and more importantly, salvation. I was excited about this last night. When we went to the evacuation center at Saugus High School, yes I wanted to be salt and light by helping out, but I was more excited about the opportunity to share Christ with people and be used in planting those seeds. My prayer or petition is that people would be drawn to God during this time.

The third thing that comes to mind is that of where we place our treasures. This is very important because it does determine a lot our response in situations such as these. I do not own a house, perhaps one day, Lord willing, I will. But this really got me thinking how I would respond if I lost my house in a fire, flood, or whatever. For a lot of the people I saw last night, this is where their heart was, in their possessions. Some kept pacing up and down, and I am sure some cried themselves to sleep. I do not discount that we are human and an element of sadness naturally accompanies something like this. But the question is, 'where do you see God in all of this?' Do you still see God as the provider or an angry ogre unleashing havoc on this earth? Is God still a loving God who takes care of us or does He seem removed from us? Listen to Christ's words:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:19 - 21)

Indeed, where our treasure is, there our heart will also be. What is my treasure in this world? Christ should be my treasure. If there is anything else that I cannot bear to lose on this earth and is taking the place of my Lord, I am storing my treasure on earth. May this cause us to look more forward to being in Heaven. Everything on this earth can perish or die in a second. Would I rather cling to those temporal things or eternal things? What is my treasure?

The last thing that I thought of when summing this up was the question I am sure a lot of people in Santa Clarita, San Diego, and Malibu are asking themselves as they lose their homes. How can a good God allow this? What is the reasoning in God's mind in doing this? To some, it is an evil. There is no easy answer to this question and I will not pretend to know God's mind. What I know is that God is Sovereign, he is in control of everything, God is good. He orchestrates and allows events. God does not shy away in His Word for saying He is responsible for times like these

"That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these." (Isaiah 45:6, 7)

I don't know why exactly this calamity was allowed by God, but what I do know is this: HIS NAME WILL BE GLORIFIED and let that be our prayer today. May all things work together for His good. May He comfort His people and have grace on them. May He bring people into the lives of those affected by the fires to share the gospel and may His name be glorified.