Where Will Matthew Go?

Prophet on the RunThis morning, millions along the southeastern coast of the United States are asking this question, “Where will Matthew go?” Matthew is, of course, the Category 4 Hurricane currently devastating portions of Haiti and Cuba. Even as watches have been posted for the Florida east coast, the question remains — is the path of this storm random, totally subject to shifting patterns of low and high pressure? Are we watching nature roll the dice in a deadly game of chance?

This is the view expressed if you watch the unfolding drama displayed on the 24/7 news cycle. Yes, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) provides sophisticated forecasts, but if you listen carefully, sophisticated forecasts means sophisticated guesswork. This is not to fault the meteorological experts at the NHC. They are doing a great job and helping to save lives! But the truth is that there is Someone who controls the path of Matthew.

Matthew will go where God directs him to go!

This is not a popular thought in 21st Century thinking. Our culture thinks it has moved beyond the outdated notion that there is a God who is in control of our lives and holds each of us accountable for our actions. Thus, the belief that a hurricane follows the path that God has determined is repugnant to modern thought.

But this does not change what is real! Matthew will do exactly what God has planned for him to do. Some will die, some will live, some will experience unthinkable hardship, some will see nothing more than a rain shower. In all of this one thing is abundantly clear, Matthew is beyond the control of human desires and technology.

Matthew and similar meteorological and geological phenomena are a call for humility. Gather your family together and in humility acknowledge the greatness and power of God. Pray that our nation will realize we cannot not live as if God and his rule can be ignored. I do not know what God will eventually do with Matthew. But I do know it is foolish to defy the Lord of the Universe and his royal Son. God will not be mocked.

Pray for humility and repentance for churches and for our nation.

He loads the clouds with moisture;
he scatters his lightning through them.
At his direction they swirl around
over the face of the whole earth
to do whatever he commands them.
He brings the clouds to punish people,
or to water his earth and show his love.
(Job 37:11-13)

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