i've heard a lot of stuff recently about god in reference to the hurricane katrina situation. ideas about how god was judging new orleans, or that maybe there isn't really a good god because he wouldn't do that to people. or that it was a natural disaster and god had no control over it. well i just want to say what i believe is a biblical view of all of this. in a blog, i can say what i want. i have that right. nobody has to read it or to comment. in a live conversation, that can become an argument, and i don't wish to argue it because i think anyone who would argue with me already has his or her mind made up, as do i. so this is how it is:
god is never accidental, and there are no mistakes with him. this hurricane was not an accident that god couldn't really control. god is in complete control of everything.
nobody can understand god's purposes. nobody. it may well be that one aspect of this situation was a cleansing. in fact, i think it is. it is true that new orleans is a sinful place- yes, everywhere is sinful, but new orleans has a reputation for being a place that people can go to indulge their flesh. but god didn't just decide to stike new orleans because there are no good people and he accidentally let too many live or something like that. there were a lot of good people, i know, who were affected by this as well. the fact is that god has a purpose for every single life. maybe for one person this was a wakeup call. for someone else, it could have been a reminder to appreciate life. i don't know, cannot fathom, what the purpose is for every life that was affected by this disaster. but i know that god knows, and that he has a reason for every single person. as christians, i do not think it is our place to attempt to determine god's purpose in any life. it is our place to do what we can to ease the suffering of the world, to show the love of christ to every person we can. i think that's about it.
keeper out.