Insurance companies often exclude what they used to call “acts of God”from their insurance policies. Now, the term is usually “natural disasters” with extra fees to insure us from the damages of hail storms, floods, and lightning strikes. My devotional reading offers something better than insurance.
Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:12–14)
According to these verses, God is the power behind drought, insect invasions, and viral epidemics. Some say no, He only allows them. They mean that God has the power to stop such things, but for reasons we might not realize, He chooses to let them happen. That means something or someone else is running things and God is just watching?
We do all sorts of mental gymnastics to get around the idea that God is sovereign and that He is involved in the affairs of this world. The Germans call it die wechselfälle des lebens, or the ups and downs of life. Many Christians say something similar in that “life happens” without putting God in the mix. This is scarily close to the philosophy of the deists who assume that God wound up the world and now stands back without interfering in anything that happens. They say that He is not a personal God, miracles cannot happen, and sin is not an issue because the world is what it is. In other words, God is not part of what is going on.
These verses from 2 Chronicles say otherwise. God plainly told Solomon that He is involved in this world. He claims that He can shut up heaven, or command insects, or even send a plague on His people. Behind that is the fact that He sees our sinful state and cares that we are alienated from Him by our sin. He will do whatever it takes to bring us to the realization of our responsibility to bring that sin to Him.
Sometimes disasters happen because God is a personal God who cares about our lives. Whatever happens to us, when seen from that perspective, puts a whole different spin on the calamities of life. Instead of grumbling, shaking our fists at Him, or dismissing Him and shrugging, those who trust that He is good and that He is in control will humble themselves to seek His face and turn from their sin. When anyone does that, then they just might experience the miracle of answered prayer, forgiveness, and a healing, not just our land, but an amazing repair of that broken relationship with Him.
Imagine yourself the president of a major country. You want to be a good leader and you want your nation to prosper. Suppose you cannot sleep so you wander to the local chapel and ponder how best to govern and what to do about the current economy. Suddenly God walks beside you and begins to tell you what to do.
Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:12–14)
Sometimes I read the letters to the editor section of the local newspaper and find at least one person complaining about the government, either local, provincial or federal. In their mind, everything that goes wrong is the fault of the leader, whatever his jurisdiction. They threaten to vote him or her out of office unless great change happens.
In some cases and some situations, they could be right. Leaders make mistakes and the results grieve their people. However, these Old Testament verses take a different view. God tells Solomon to be a good king in other passages, but here He says that if trouble happens, He is sending it as a warning or a punishment to the people. The way that their trouble can be “fixed” is if the people turn from what they are doing wrong and seek God and His forgiveness.
Many countries will not tolerate a mixture of religion and politics. In ancient Rome, the church was the state. It didn’t work very well. Many modern countries are ruled by their current religious ideals and the zealots who hold them. This isn’t working either.
In history, the Christian church has been government controlled. That was never the intention of God. While Christians need to submit to laws and legislation, our leader is Jesus Christ, not the current head of government or any governing body. He tells us to obey our leaders, but we obey because He says so; He is our leader. At the same time, separation of church and state should never forbid a political leader from having religious views and beliefs. Those nations whose leaders are atheists have suffered greatly under that rule.
However, not all national calamities are the fault of the leaders, as God says in this passage. God is bigger than government. What political entity can shut up heaven and stop the rain? What politician can tell locusts to eat up the crops, or send a virus to destroy lives? God reigns over all political systems and leaders. If He sees a people group going a certain direction, He has the power to influence a change or even stop them. Government might try, but they do not have the omnipotence of God.
Beyond that, God is most concerned with how His people behave. As a Christian, I am aware of my responsibility toward government, but also toward God. While these verses are directed to Solomon and Israel, they show what God is like and describe His power and His values. What I do, and what those in my church and the church at large do, can affect how God deals with our entire nation.
These and other verses also tell me that God controls climate and natural disaster. Much of the world panics and struggles to be good stewards of our environment. Our failures in that area could be a part of the problem, but perhaps the greater bottom line is that nations and people groups are simply ignoring God. When we try doing what we think needs to be done — as if we have no moral or spiritual responsibilities toward God — then we can expect Him to demonstrate who is actually in charge.
