The third and final lesson we gathered yesterday from this divine megaphone of calamity was that we escape the coming final judgment by repentance. This is an orbiting cemetery from which there is only one way of escape. When the Titanic, four days into its maiden voyage, went down on the night of April 14, 1912, 1522 people went to a watery grave. The sinking was the result of a series of human errors. On deck, the band played the hymn “Nearer My God to Thee.” God could have kept the sinking ship afloat without any violation of human will, but that is not how it works. How many turned to God in there last moments will never be known until eternity unfolds. News to inform the relatives was by way of a list posted in the White Star office window in Liverpool. The list had two headings: “Known To Be Saved,” and “Known To Be Lost.” Hundreds gathered to watch the signs be updated. Even though the travellers were designated 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class, in the end there were just two categories: the saved and the lost. Just so, we can divide people into many classes based on geography, race, wealth, or status, but on the day of judgment there will only be 2 groups: the saved and the lost.

This is your choice. The same sun that melts wax hardens clay. Disasters and tragedies, whether personal or broader, can make us bitter or better. When really bad flooding weather wiped out the business I had created to self-fund a church plant, I could have held up my hands and said, “God I am doing your work.” But knowing all the things I have shared with you this past week or so, I did not. They say a mighty oak is just yesterday’s nut that held its ground. In retrospect I can see the beauty of providence, though in the heat of bankruptcy and divorce it looked bleak. I trusted God with the outcome, and I am glad I did.

The patriarch Job, with 10 fresh graves on the side of a hill, made a choice to worship God regardless (see Job 1:20-21). The very next day things went from bad to worse (Job 2:9-10) and then continued on a downward trajectory. However, Job knew that good times and trouble come from God and he decided to be faithful no matter what. If the devil were in control without God’s approval – watch out! But if we know that God is in control and that nature is in His hands, then we can rest in confidence that my life will proceed according to His plans. That is a big ask.
My father died when I was 16. The anguish and grief were a pivotal moment in my life that led me to a saving faith. Did God take my father out of the way to save me from the New Age movement that he was into? I’ll give you the answer in heaven.

If we know God is in control and that nature is in His hands then I can rest in confidence that my life also is in His hands. If God is sovereign, then I can also have confidence that “all things work together for good.” (Rom 8:28) eventually!
Natural disasters have two results. They might drive people away from God, or for others they might have the opposite effect, because they remind us of what is temporary and what is permanent. The same sun that melts wax hardens clay; the same event can have 2 results. All things pass away and only what is eternal abides. So, don’t pray for an easier life, pray to be a stronger person, because trials and tribulations will always come.