Hurricane Sandy through the eyes of Job

“Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm…” Job 40:6

As I watched the International Space Station fly over Hurricane Sandy this morning, I found my eyes continually drawn to the arc of the earth.

Who are we that You are mindful of us?

From a cosmic point of view, we’re but grass. So small. So temporal. So seemingly insignificant. Your wind blows over us and we’re gone.

This storm is mammoth. Some say unprecedented. And yet You, God, precede all things. It’s a puff of breath to You. A small part of the wild way things work on a planet as atmospherically complex and beautiful as earth. An act of God.

“Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth… God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding… The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds… He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them. At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them.” Job 37:2, 5, 9, 11-12

It’s humbling that such a small thing can bring us to our knees, God. The center of the financial universe submits. We had no idea this storm was coming. We have no idea how bad things might get. Your  brooding, hydrological ways overshadow us.

“Stop and consider God’s wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?” Job 37:14-16

Do you have any idea how these super-storms come together? Have you figured out why it’s making landfall today? Tell me if you think you know. Do you have any questions for God in all of this? Is He messing with your plans? Is He being unfair sending this storm into our busy lives?

“Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?” Job 38:2

Through the eye of a storm, and from everlasting to everlasting, God is God. He made this planet. By His Spirit He holds the entire cosmos together. He knows each and every person in the path of this storm - by name. He’s known them from all eternity. He knows our low-lying hearts, and loves us with an unending love. God is the God of all things today; right now. He knows what’s going on.

And through the unknowable and untimely nature and power of a hurricane He reminds us of this fact.

“Then Job answered the Lord: 'I am unworthy - how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer - twice, but I will say no more.'” Job 40:3-5