God's Work in All Its Forms

A recent survey showed some interesting outcomes which one could, on the surface, show some contradictory thinking, but it probably more emblematic of the reality many people, even those who count themselves as devout Christians or people of faith, have trouble rationalizing the reality of a God who is all powerful and sovereign yet along with the existence of tragedy, especially those which seem natural or uninitiated by the hands of humans, something that I addressed in my earlier post around the Japanese tsunami disaster.

Here are some of the survey results:

• 38% believe that earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters are a sign from God
• Roughly 30% believe that God sometimes punishes nations for the sins of some citizens
• 56% percent of all respondents said they believe God is in control of everything that happens in the world
• 70% Americans believe God is a person with whom a person can have a relationship
• 58% said they attributed the increased severity of natural disasters to global warming
• 44% said they attribute it to what the Bible sometimes refers to as the “end times"

What's interesting is that there clearly isn't a mutual exclusive belief that global warning caused the tsunami and the hand of God. There similarly isn't tension between the global warning attribution and the belief that God is in control of everything in this world. Both of these make sense. Clearly God can use any means - natural or supernatural - to accomplish His will.

It sort of reminds me of the the fable about the mice in the piano that is often used as an allegory of the existence of a God unseen:

There once was a family of mice who lived their entire lives inside a large piano. The mice lived in joy with the music of the instrument, which filled all the dark spaces with sound and harmony. In addition to enjoying the music, the mice drew comfort and wonder from the thought that there was Someone who actually made the music -- though invisible to them -- who "played" this piano. Then one day a couple of daring mice climbed up part of the piano and returned with a major discovery: they had at last found how the music was made. Wires were the secret; tightly stretched wires of graduated lengths which trembled and vibrated. As a result, many of them revised their old beliefs: none but the most conservative could any longer believe that the piano player existed. Instead they argued that the more rationale argument was this: Hammers were the origin of the music - a series of hammers dancing and leaping on tightly wound wires. The mice had seen this with his own eyes, and this became the prevailing belief of the reason for the music. The unseen pinaist came to be thought of as a myth. But the pianist continued to play.

In addition to reconciling the work of God and events put in place by man and nature, there's a question in terms of how this should be viewed theologically, especially in the context of the biblical interpretations of the apocalypse and end times. I think our pastor said it well (I'm paraphrasing) when he said from the pulpit that while the Bible does speak of tribulation and calamity in the end of the age, the prevailing imperative when you look at Scripture is that we should always be prepared for Jesus' return and live in a manner of worship which reflects that.

For thousands of years, there have been clusters of events which have caused people to think about Matthew 24, one passage which speaks of signs of the close of the age - but the day and the hour isn't known. It is up to us to live humbly and live worshipfully.