Act Of God

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Act of God

John Hibbert

It is quite amazing, isn't it; how people, who say they don't believe in God, blame Him when things appear to go wrong? Sickness or bereavement strikes, or financial crisis raises its head and suddenly God is brought onto the scene to be accused of not caring. I have always found myself wanting to defend the Lord's reputation when the world blames Him for natural disasters, like earthquakes and hurricanes. An "Act of God" they call them! The world is obviously old and ready to be folded up like an old garment and is not helped by the way it is abused by it's occupants, but to suggest that the God who gave His own Son to save the world is somehow complicit in a plot to destroy the lives and homes of the poor, is frankly ridiculous.

So now we have another one! A volcano in Iceland is upsetting our twenty-first century way of life! No-one is to blame, of course, so "Let's blame God!" The truth is that no-one is to blame, so why blame God? We are living on a worn out planet which is well passed its "best by" date. That's why the Bible tells us of the Divine plan to create "A new heaven and a new earth." The One who plants new life in all who will submit their lives to Him, will one day soon, "Make all things new."

A word of warning though! I confess to a feeling of slight amusement in this latest "Act of God". I do sympathise with the many thousands who have been inconvenienced by the cloud of ash, and with the airlines that have lost such a huge amount of money, but I would like to make a point. What if this really was, "An Act of God?" By simply removing the lid from one of His mountains, He has brought disruption to half the world. The truth is that with a click of His fingers, He can stop the world! So be careful!

Act of God