God is in control

Job 37:5-6 (NIV)

5 God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. 6 He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’

God’s voice is in control of all things. He speaks into action events that happen around us. It is beyond our understanding, but it is marvelous and grand.

Poll Asks, "Is God in Control of Natural Disasters?"

A March 2011 poll surveyed Americans regarding their beliefs about God's involvement in natural disasters. The following are some of the results of this research:

•  56 percent of the Americans surveyed believe that God is in control of the earth
• 38 percent believe that God employs events in nature to dispense judgment
• 29 percent believe that God punishes entire nations for the sins of a few
• Nearly 60 percent of evangelical Christians agreed that God can use natural disasters to send messages
• 44 percent of Americans say that the increased severity of recent natural disasters is evidence that we are in the end times
• 61 percent of Christians from racial and ethnic minorities believe that natural disasters are God's way of testing our faith—and according to the article, that idea "resonates with African-American's history of surviving through slavery and racial discrimination."

The article concluded: "After one of these disasters [like the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami], people turn to their clergy and theologians and they look for answers, and there are no great answers …. But almost every group believes you have to help people who are suffering." [Nicole Neroulias, "Poll: Most in U.S., except evangelicals, see no divine sign in disasters," USA Today (3-24-11)]

God often works His wonders to bring about changes in people. When people are faced with a crisis such as the tsunami listed above, people will join together to help one another. The day before they may not have even noticed their fellow man and now they are helping one another.