Download In the World for September 2 here.
NATURE’S DESTRUCTIVE FORCE
The island state of Hawai’i sits amid Earth’s largest expanse of water, the Pacific Ocean. Most of us think of Hawai’i as an idyllic place, but things changed last week when Hurricane Lane struck the islands. Eventually Lane was downgraded to a tropical storm, but three feet of rain fell in some places, bringing with it flash floods, landslides, and power failures. The harbor in Honolulu, the lifeline for most of the state’s commodities, was closed. Shortages of some goods were expected.
GOD’S CREATIVE POWER
Genesis begins by describing the whole earth covered with water. There is a brooding sense of an awesome power hovering over this vast expanse, about to do something that had never happened before. God caused land to rise out of the water and light to overwhelm the darkness. Instead of destroying everything in its path, this power was about to turn that primordial waste into a paradise more beautiful than the Hawai’i we usually picture in our mind’s eye. Bringing order from chaos is what God has been doing ever since.
- Does nature’s destructive power cause you to reflect on God’s creative power? Explain. How does the volcanic chain of islands that is Hawai’i help you appreciate God’s action in creating the world?
- What spiritually destructive forces do you see at work in the world today?
- How can Christians help bring order to the chaos of others’ lives, e.g., homelessness, poverty, or addictions? What other examples come to mind?
—Charles R. Boatman
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