Tornado in Moore, Oklahoma

As of last May, my husband and I lived but 2 or 3 miles away from where the tornado devastated a hospital and schools in Moore, Oklahoma. As we watch the news, we recognize the places, and hear that the friends of so-and-so and so-and-so's house was destroyed. What can we do when faced with the reality of a natural disaster? Where can we find God and where can we find hope in this situation? Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY provides some great perspective on this issue in his special edition podcast from Monday night, The Briefing (link below).

Special Edition of Albert Mohler's The Briefing - Moore Oklahoma

Read this excerpt below if you don't have time to listen to the whole podcast:

{Mohler cites a passage in the podcast from the gospel of Luke 13:1-5 that he references in the excerpt below:

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5, ESV)}

"With human sin having corrupted so much, that every single atom and molecule of the universe now bears the effects of that sin, what we're looking at is the fact that tsunamis happen, tornadoes happen, termites happen, tumors happen. In this case it was the tornado.  

But we also need to remember that that's not where the narrative of Scripture ends. All of this points to the fact that we, as human sinners, are desperately in need of a savior. And God has provided that Savior for us in Christ. And He has saved us utterly from our sins.

But that's not all that Christ has accomplished for us. As Romans chapter 8 makes very clear, not only are we promised redemption, but the cosmos is promised redemption. That we are told that even the world, suffering under the effects of sin, will be redeemed by the power of Christ as He rules over all things - that creation which even now is groaning, waiting for the appearing of the sons of God. What that creation is telling us, is that a savior is needed not just for human beings but for the entire cosmos that God made for His glory....In the future there is a restoration of all things...a new heaven and a new earth.

Christians looking at this need to hear the words of Jesus we repeated from the gospel of Luke. This is a reminder to us, as is the death of every single human being, and the occasion of every single tragedy, that death is coming, that judgment is coming, and that we must repent lest we, as Jesus said, also likewise, perish. We need to remember that there is a dual destiny that Scripture makes very clear. There is restoration, there is redemption, there is adoption as the sons and daughters of God for those who are in Christ. And there is the bearing for all eternity the full weight of the wrath of God for those who are not under the mercy of God in Christ.

There is a new heaven and a new earth that is coming by God's promise. And Christ is going to rule over this new heaven and this new earth in such a way that the lion and the lamb will be able to rest together safely, and securely. There will be no more tsunamis. In the new heaven and the new earth there will be no tumors and no termites, there will be no mosquitoes and no need for antibiotics. There will be no grieving, there will be no tears, no eye that must be wiped dry.

...We have to wonder if the people of Moore, Oklahoma are thinking some of the thoughts that were experienced by Job of the Old Testament, when he spoke of God saying "He bruises me with a tempest". And but for Christ we would have no answer as to how we are to have a hope of any rescue from all of this. But then we remember the fourth chapter of the gospel of Mark, when the disciples were with Jesus on that boat that was tossed on the sea, such that they thought they themselves were going to be destroyed. And then you remember that Jesus rebuked the wind. And then His disciples said, "Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him?". Well, who He is, is the incarnate Son of God. And He is the Ruler over all things, even this, even now, even in Moore, Oklahoma. That is the assurance of how any of us have any security in this life, and in the life to come."

-Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
From The Briefing, 5-20-13