God in the Midst of Crisis

I want to take a moment to talk about the Haiti Earthquake.  I hope you have been in prayer for the people of Haiti and all those who are there to aid them.  It was such a tragic destruction of precious life.  Sometimes a situation like this could be looked at and the question could be asked, “Where is God in all of this? If He is a loving and powerful God, how could something like this happen?”  So I want to take a look at the question for a moment.  Unfortunately, we know from the Bible that we are a sinful people and we now live in a fallen and cursed world.  We also know that Satan is called the Prince of this World.  Because the world turned away from Him, the result is a world that is in chaos.  But this does not mean that God is not present in the midst of the crisis!  He is there, working in the middle of it all, to bring some good from this and provide care and comfort for the people. 

I have been doing some work with an organization called Children’s Hunger Fund, which serves needy children here at home in the U.S. and around the world.  CHF has been working for some time to get into the Dominican Republic, which is next door to Haiti. The Wednesday before the earthquake, the Dominican Republic received its’ first sea container of aid, with people organized and trained locally to manage the supplies.  On the Sunday before the earthquake, a CHF team finished three days of training with a team of people in Haiti to prepare to receive shipments there as well.  Some of the training was concerning disaster preparedness and how CHF was ready to respond.  After the earthquake hit, the teams from the Dominican Republic immediately began to make their supplies available to the teams in Haiti.  This is not a coincidence!  This is just one of many stories showing that God is at work through His people in the midst of crisis.

 Would I prefer that this had never happened?  Of course! Human life is precious and I look forward with anticipation to the day when the earth will be made new, when suffering and sadness will be eliminated. But it will get worse before that happens, as our universe continues to deteriorate.  So is there any hope?  Our hope is the same as it has always been.  Our hope is in our loving God who shelters our souls in His hand.  Nothing can separate us from that love.  “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ’For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Romans 8:35-39

Meanwhile, we must be His hands and feet in this world.  Traditionally the Church is the one that steps into these situations to bring hope and healing.  This is still the case today, regardless of what we might be led to believe.  The Church is on the frontlines in responding to tragedy.  Are you there with us?  Join with us in taking action to let others know that the People of God are alive and well. 

Be the Church—Change the World

Brandt Roney

©2010