A Flood of Pain, Suffering, Warning and Hope by Bryan Craig

And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:11-13 ESV

Influencers hosts a Prayer Call every Tuesday morning via Zoom 6:15-7:15 AM, and all of you are welcome to join us (here’s the link to register).  We start the call, having someone assigned to give us a “Nugget”, which is a truth or testimony from God’s Word and from their life.  This year, our nuggets are focused on “The Fear of the Lord.”  One of the men in the prayer group gave our nugget a week ago, and his heart was centered on trying to make sense of the tragic flood in South Texas a few weeks ago.  His wife had been a camper at Camp Mystic when she was a girl, and his family had just enjoyed a big family reunion at the Guadalupe River a few weeks before the tragedy, so this really hit home with him.  He did an excellent job helping us seek the Lord in the midst of confusion and pain.  It was so gripping and this situation so hard to contemplate that a somber atmosphere permeated the remainder of our prayer call.

My heart went out to my brother and my fellow heartbroken Influencers and definitely for all those families who lost a loved one in the flood.  I have four daughters and I remember well when they were little girls and off at camp in the summer.  Oh the horror it would be to lose one of them.  And I grew up during the horrible Girl Scout murders at Camp Scott in Oklahoma, which struck fear in so many people.  How do we make sense of these things?

My friends, I think you know that we live in a broken, sinful, fallen world.  Just as Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened to the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden after they sinned, we, too, have eyes to see evil and good every day in this world.  I don’t want to suppose that I have any superior wisdom or intellect to help us make sense of tragedy, but I do want to attempt to process my own heart and thoughts out loud, in hopes it might help you as you process.

Someone said the floods that overtook Mystic Camp and that region occurred at 3:00 in the morning, in the middle of the night.  I’ve long heard spiritual theories that the Enemy often comes to torment us at 3:00 in the morning.  I heard one commentary say that Jesus was crucified and conquered the Enemy at 3:00 pm in the afternoon, so he mocks Jesus by doing his work at 3:00 am.  I can’t give you scriptural reference to this theory, but I can attest by personal testimony and from talking to many believers through the years, evil seems to make itself known most often in the middle of the night.  So, my first thought was that this was a work of the Enemy.   He comes only to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10)  He is called the “Ruler” or “Prince” of this world with temporary domain here (John 12:31, Ephesians 2:2).  “Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”  Revelation 12:12 ESV

I then thought of the verse I quoted at the beginning of this devotional, where Elijah encountered God on the mountaintop.  There was a great wind, there was an earthquake and there was a fire…all of these we would call natural disasters, though insurance companies might call them “acts of God.”  But the scriptures regarding Elijah’s encounter say the Lord was NOT in any of those natural events.  God was in the gentle whisper.  Similarly, I thought of the story of Jesus in the boat with the disciples, when a great storm arose which threatened to capsize their boat.

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”  Mark 4:37-41 ESV

God was not in the storm nor the waves.  Jesus stilled the storm with one word, and he accused them of not having enough faith.

So, my heart was consoled that God was not responsible for the flood, nor do I think He wanted to harm the people who died in the flood.  In particular, I think of Jesus’ fondness for children and his desire that the little children would come to Him.  (Matthew 19:14) 

The next question is tougher.  Why didn’t He prevent it or stop it?  I don’t know.

In my seeking time with the Lord this morning, I was brought to Matthew 24:36-44 where the return of Jesus to the earth is compared to the original Flood which destroyed all on the earth.  Matthew talks about how the Flood came suddenly, while people were eating, drinking, marrying, being given in marriage.  They were just living life, with no thought of death.  He says:

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

My devotional guided me also to 2 Peter 3:8-10:

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

We have to understand that God has a master plan, and this time on Earth is but a very small part of it.  We all live knowing that we will die or Jesus will return to reconcile all things, whichever comes first.  And it will happen very quickly, just like the flood of South Texas.

And we must know it’s nearer than we think.  I was nerding out on Matthew’s words that “with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day.”

One day on earth = 86,400 seconds (24 hours x 60 minutes x 60 seconds)

And if, with the Lord, one day is like 1000 years, it means:

One second = 86 years in the Lord’s scale of time.

It kind of blows my mind to think about this, but it just confirms something I already knew.  Life flies by very quickly, and we are not made to be contained in this earthly time constraint.  We are spiritual beings, made for eternity.

So, as tragic as life is with death happening all the time, in all sorts of seemingly unjust ways, Jesus saves us from our hopelessness.  He died so we don’t have to fear death and so that we will live for eternity.  And even though He knows we don’t need to worry or fear when someone dies, He still grieves with us because He loves us. 

He wants us to trust Him, even when we don’t understand and when our sense of fairness is challenged.  He wants us to keep our eyes on Him and be ready for our moment of transition.  He wants us to know we are only seconds away from rejoining our loved ones who have gone before us.

And best of all, we are only seconds from falling into His open arms.