My longtime friend, Kyle (some of you will know him), emailed me this question yesterday. He has experience more than his share of pain, suffering and devastation, so his question is not just a mind and soul teaser…it is an honest question. It deserves an honest attempt at an answer.

…give me your theological position regarding this question: do you think God has anything to do with the "natural disasters" or since Satan is the "Prince of the Air" and the "god of this age," do you think that he is the one that is in charge here......and don't give me the "party line" answer that God "allows" things like this to happen.......i wanna know who's in charge...........so ante up to that one.


OK...I'll take a stab at it. It is a theological perplexity, but I do have a position on this, and things like it. I would put this hurricane disaster into a category of "issues" that are hard to understand. Things like the following:

Natural disasters: (hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and even termite infestation (which causes more homes to be lost each year than tornadoes).

Human disasters: The Saddam Hussein's, Hitler's, etc. All the destruction and carnage they produce and inspire in others.

Natural human disasters, such as disease, and especially the "tough" ones: Mental illnesses, cancer, dementia, and many other less known, but equally debilitating human conditions and diseases. Not the least of which is the whole epidemic rate of homosexuality and other kinds of sexual brokenness. Do these people ASK for these conditions? The truthful answer is NO, they don't.

Whether you are talking about nature or human beings, there are those things that just happen and those that are caused. Whether caused or not, they come from the same source....Satan's rule on the earth as a result of the fall of man (Adam and Eve gave up the dominion...rule over the earth that was given to them). Some of it is directly related to his activity, and some (my belief is that overwhelmingly, MOST) is as a result of the collateral damage of sin. It goes back to the Garden of Eden. Where else could it come from? Could these things be the purpose, plan, and hand of God? I reject that. If I believed that, I am the stupidest person in the world for being in my line of work. I personally think that God HATES these things, but they are part of the package our first parents bought for us. God does have a solution that has been initiated, though not fully enacted at this point in time. Can God bring good things from them...of course. But to say they are "allowed" by God as an answer to disaster, pain, and suffering is shallow and insensitive to my thinking. It is like saying that every time I go to a house fire, the firemen are there...so they must be the one's who are allowing fires to happen. This is the reason that I have much grace for those who suffer from the collateral damage of sin. I refuse to shoot the wounded or to heap more pain on those who suffer from a disaster by saying, "well, it must be that God allowed this for a reason..." Are you suffering from your afflictions because it is God allowing this in your life for a reason? I don't think so. Has it been made more severe by some of your choices or activities? I don't know...perhaps, but that doesn't make me have less compassion...it in fact makes me have MORE. That is the heart of the response of Jesus to the woman caught in adultery. That is the best I can do. SO....did the great Satan fling that hurricane toward the Gulf Coast, knowingly and purposely causing all the destruction and sorrow we have seen? I don't think so, though it does play into his hand very nicely, and he did have a direct hand in its origin. Did God "allow" the hurricane to take place for some unknown reason (or as some have suggested, because New Orleans is a known center for voodoo, illicit sex, and the like)? I don't think so. This world is SERIOUSLY flawed, and will continue to experience disasters, both caused and natural. Which brings me to one last thought: I would think the term "Unnatural Disaster" is more appropriate and closer to the real truth. The world was created so that "natural" would be good, decent, void of disaster and mayhem. What we are seeing, and seemingly with increasing frequency (though I can't really substantiate that claim), are ACTS OF AN UNNATURAL condition from the way we were created to live and the world that was created for us to live in. GOD IS IN CHARGE (the right response, as we all know), to answer your question directly, but He sure is a curious landlord at times! You'd think He'd want to take better care of his stuff. It must mean that all this "stuff" is not all that permanent....do you think? There you have it. I don't have any answers....only my best effort to try and understand the impossible to explain!

The Gatekeeper