Where did He go? Not a vacation in N'Awlins

So I haven't personally heard anyone say it yet, but I know that it is only a matter of time before I hear a non-believer say, "So if God is real, where is He right now? How could He let something like this happen?" My boss is a non-believer, and I can tell during our discussions of the devastation that these kinds of thoughts are running through his mind.

Where is God in all of this? God is in every single person across the world who has flooded the American Red Cross website and hotline to donate money to the disaster relief fund. God is in every family who is giving up a dinner at McDonald's or a movie trip this weekend, so they can give just that much more to those who are in desperate need. God is in every person who has volunteered to go down to the areas afffected in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. God is in every government who has turned their arenas into shelters. God is in every nurse and doctor in the area who are taking turns, by hand, keeping critically ill patients alive without the assistance of water and electricity. God is in the government who is enlisting monetary help from other nations and from its citizens to help in this time of such great need.

How could God let all of this happen? It says in the Bible that God does not wish that anyone should perish, suffer, die, be displaced. So how is it that He let this happen? Because He loved us so much that He gave us free will. And from the very beginning in the Garden, Adam and Eve "chose" to have knowledge of good AND evil. Sin is a presence in our world. And the presence of sin in our world is what has led us to where we are. It is easy to point out sin. . .looting, violence, disease. God allows these things because He didn't create us to be puppets. He gave us minds, and unfortunately, our minds are capable of horrible things.

But God is still here. He is still watching. He is crying as He watches the elderly and the very young die in the wake of the hurricane. He is crying as He watches His children fight, loot, and keep others from being saved. He is smiling as millions give to help their brothers and sisters, their neighbors, complete strangers. He is smiling as single mothers give sacrificially to help. He is smiling as He sees His own mobilize transportation to get people out of those areas.

And in this disaster, He is strong. We often trust in our own abilities. We can do it on our own, we think. But we can't. And sometimes, it takes a disaster to make that clear.

God will be glorified as we rebuild the lives of these people. Christians will give money, their time, their homes to those in needs. And so will many others. God will be glorified through these acts of help.

God has been in New Orleans for hundreds, if not thousands of years. We may not have seen Him there, but He has always been there. Now He's calling to us to show everyone that He has not left.

Do what you can. No gift is insignificant. No sacrifice too little.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the Lord, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the Lord, ' and I will bring you back from the place where I sent you into exile." --Jeremiah 29:11-14