For I am the LORD your God,
Who churns up the sea so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name. Isaiah 51:15
The men were amazed and asked,
"What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" Matthew 8:27
I heard a famous TV reporter this morning, standing by the sea wall in Galveston Bay, describe the scene of Hurricane Ike's approach. As he was pelted by the water crashing over the sea wall, he described the waters of the Gulf of Mexico as angry waters. He then said the waves were wicked waves.
It is telling that weather systems are described with language that indicates purpose and intent, as if these systems had minds of their own. Yet, as the Scriptures teach us, it is God who stirs up the waters and causes storms, even Ike, to roar. God is not ashamed to identify himself as the cause of these events; neither should we.
One purpose of this blog is to help parents identify the power of God in all of life. This provides you with powerful testimony to give to your children about the work of God on earth.
Ike is a large hurricane, impacting hundreds of miles of coastline. The human and economic devastation from Ike is likely to surpass the damage done by Katrina and Gustav. The TV network evening anchors have not rushed to Galveston and Houston to cover the approach of Ike the way they did for Gustav, demonstrating again, as we have noted in previous posts, that news reporting is selective by nature.
The power of God is on display as Ike approaches. This is important data for your children to grasp. How devastating this storm will become is up to God and God alone. People’s lives are at risk. Property damage could be catastrophic. Energy prices could skyrocket even beyond current levels—or the storm could weaken and not bring the devastation that is possible.
What is important is that this is God’s doing. He is once again reminding us of his great, awesome power. This storm is but a tiny fraction of the power that our God has at his command. Don’t make the mistake that the eager reporter made—attributing the acts of God to random chance and ascribing intentions to waves and wind rather than to God himself.