Tornadoes & God

Last week, America experienced the largest amount of deaths due to storms since 1925. More than 300 people died as a result of the 600 plus tornadoes that tore across the nation in April. The impact of these storms will be felt for years to come by those who lost their homes and for a lifetime by those who lost friends and family members.

The impact can even be felt in the cities by the people who were not directly affected by the storm. Over the last few days, I have had several discussions with several teenagers about God and tornadoes. There are many things we do not understand about God or tornadoes that can cause us to ask questions. 

I will not be able to explain everything you might want to know about God and natural disasters in this blog. Not because of a lack of time, but because of a lack of knowledge. If I understand everything about God, then I would know everything about tornadoes. If I knew everything about God, I would know everything about everything and then I would be God. If that were the case, I would not write a blog, I would write a book you would call the Bible. I am not going to do my best to tell you what I think I am going to do better than that. I am going to show you what I believe the Bible teaches about some of the questions you might be asking or might be hearing asked in the hallways of your school. 

• How do tornadoes form? When hot air near the ground has a cold air layer slide up on top of it, the weather becomes unstable. In normal situations, the temperature gradually equalizes and there are no problems. But when the air masses move quickly and are extreme, any opening for warm air to move up through the cold air mass is like water going down the drain in reverse. The air rises and is rotated due to the rotation of the earth. (At least that is what I remember from my 4th grade science class).

• Could God have stopped the tornadoes from happening? Before I answer that question, let me ask you a quick question. What is more frightening, that God allows tornadoes to occur or that God could not stop tornadoes? We know from the Bible that God created the world and the laws of nature (Gen. 1). We also learn later in the Bible in Colossians 1:16-17 that he “holds together” all things. So, could God have stopped the tornadoes from happening? Yes. We know of a story where he calmed a storm one night while out on a boat (Mark 4).
  
  
• Is every natural disaster a punishment for sin? Absolutely not; however, it is a consequence of sin, and I will explain the difference in the next question. We see in several places in the Bible (Deut. 11:17, Numbers 16: 30-34, Rev. 6,8) that God has used natural disasters as a judgement for sin (sin being defined as anything that breaks his law). We are not told that every natural disaster is a result of sin, and we see many examples of where it is not the case. For example, the story of Job. The Bible says he was a just man, and yet we see a storm come that causes the death of his children.

• What do you mean that natural disasters are a consequence of sin? If you misunderstand me, you might believe I was heartless and, worse off, non-Biblical in my thoughts about the deaths of the people from the storms. I do know that the people affected by the storms were sinners, because the Bible tells us all people are sinners (Romans 3:23). I am not saying that the world has natural disasters because of people's individual sins. However, the Bible tells us that the earth “groans” in pain because of the result of sin. As you may remember when Adam and Eve (the first humans) sinned, the world changed. The fields got hard to plow, and thorns began to grow. We learn in Romans 8 that the world eagerly awaits the day it can go back to her original, perfect state. That is why I believe natural disasters are a consequence of sin.

• How should Christian teenagers respond to natural disasters? We should be reminded that our life here on Earth is only a vapor (James 4:14). We should be sensitive to those who are hurting and not make jokes about the situation. We are told to cry with those who cry (Romans 12:15). We should take the opportunity to talk to people about how Jesus saves us from the eternal consequences of sin. We should look for opportunities to do good works and help out those in need (Eph. 2:10). Assure yourself and others that God is still in control (Job 38:8-11).

This article was written in response to some of the questions that I am asked being a Student Pastor. I firmly believe the Bible--even though it was written thousands of years ago, the Bible still has the answers for today's questions, even those asked by teenagers. If you have more questions about God, tornadoes, or anything else that effects your life, and you want a Bible answer, contact me through my blog at www.TrentCornwell.com