Finding Comfort In The Aftermath of Hurricane Helene

The Lord’s Presence in Disaster and Human Suffering

When horrible things happen. It's like where is the Lord are you asleep at the wheel. God like do you know that this is happening? Do you see what's going on? Are you gonna do anything about it? Those are questions that we ask like why is it that people lost their houses?

Why is it that people in our city lost their lives? And We can say too though that the Lord does not delight in the perishing of the wicked. And precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints.

You know, that's true. We know this about the Lord. He brings life out of death. He brings beauty out of ashes. He brings glory out of weakness and That's where I would want to start that. When horrible things happen, he's not absent.

He's not distant. I think a lot of times you hear people talk about how God God comes upon some terrible thing and then makes good out of it. Like he works good out of bad. It's like what's actually deeper than that because it's not as though something happened that the Lord was not intentional in.

And then he just shows up to clean it up because that that's not how the scriptures describe the Lord. I'm thinking about Genesis 50 like with Joseph and his brothers right in the aftermath of that whole piece.

God Meant It for Good in Genesis 50

Yeah, the words of Joseph in Genesis 50 20 are astonishing. It's not just what you Meant for evil. God worked for good. He doesn't say that. Yeah. He said what you meant for evil God meant for good. So like in the this is this is striking to me like in the intentional Decisions actions choices of human beings who intended and meant evil.

The Lord was working in and through that to mean intend and accomplish good. That's a mind-blow there were a lot of people who united themselves against Jesus against the anointed one of God who hated him you know, they were evil men who did evil things and that all of this was accomplished according to the foreknowledge and the plan of God from all of eternity.

Christ’s Sovereign Purpose and the Only Hope in Tragedy

Both are true and like how these things can be held together. It breaks our brains and it it's something that our hearts we can't comprehend it. You can get as angry as you want. You can get as you can give be angry and you you can get upset and say this shouldn't be this way.

I would do it a different way. I don't like the way it's done but in the end of the end you have to ask yourself, what are my options and At the end of the day, there is one option and it's Jesus the King.

You know, and it's not a it's not that it's like well, I guess it'll have to be. I Guess I guess it will do when you finally realize what he's offering you and what he's doing to you and for you. You are you are left but to worship you are left but to wonder you are left but to cry out for joy.

Because what he offers you is not just a handout as if oh, here's some supplies. You know, here's a bucket of some sanitary wipes and some water to get you through disaster. He says Oh child I'm gonna make all things new and let me prove to you.

I have the capacity to do that. Let me prove to you how faithful I have been all not only through the fall of Adam and Eve. But through all of humanity I have been faithful and not only have I be faithful but I proved my love for you as a sinner when you were at your Worst I laid my son's life down for you.

So not I'm not just offering you some aid. I'm Cleansing you restoring you and I'm promising you to put you in a world where all things will be made, right? I will wipe away the tears and this will never happen again.

I'm not promising aid I'm promising you something far beyond what you could even comprehend. No, amen.