When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the Gulf Coast not so many years ago, it came inland with great destruction!  Prior to landfall, as the winds increased with intensity, a TV crew recorded a church with a billboard just in front.  On the billboard were the words: Katrina, have mercy on us! 

Here was a church, sitting directly in the path of this great storm, praying words as if to a pagan god of storms, whose name was Katrina!

In the latter part pf the 20th Century, and now even today, one is saturated with the idea of  a mother earth, like some kind of a great, unseen force, independent of a creator God, a force that controls and stirs up the clouds, the winds, the weaves.  Mother earth has a side-kick, you know: her name is mother nature!  It is she who brings on the good weather and the bad weather; the sunny day or the violent gale and crashing waves from an angry sea.  And man names each storm with either a female name, or a male name.  O, the deep, dark things in the fertile imagination of men whose thoughts come subtly from the god of this world.     

But the word of God, as found written in His Holy Bible, tell  mankind a different story…if only he will believe!  And Christians-seems they believe God is the Creator, but there appears to be a murky understanding that He is sovereign, and controls all things, including the weather, for it is His.  There is a sense, I suppose, that believers probably think God has relinquished His authority and has left the world to itself!  But let’s take a closer look:

In the Book of Genesis, chapter one, verse one, it is written: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 

Consider the wheat and the tares: in all places can be found the godly living side by side with the ungodly.  Psalm 11, verse 7 states: Upon the ungodly he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, storm and tempest: this shall be their portion to drink.

Psalm 18:8: The earth trembled  and quaked, the very foundations also of the hills shook, and were removed, because He was wroth.

Verse 14: The LORD also thundered out of heaven, and the Highest gave His thunder; hailstones and coals of fire.

Psalm 19, verse 1: The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showest His handy-work.

Psalm 24, 1-2: The earth is the LORD’s, and all that therein is; For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

Psalm 29, 3-5, 7: The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; it is the glorious God that makes the thunder. It is the LORD that rules the sea; the voice of the LORD is mighty in operation; The voice of the LORD breaks the cedar-trees; The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness. 

Psalm 95, 3-6: For the LORD is a great God; and a great King above all gods. In His hand are all the corners of the earth; and the strength of the hills is His also. The sea is His, and He made it; and His hands prepared the dry land. O come, let us worship and fall down, and kneel before the LORD our Maker.  

In the midst of the storm, let repentance be heard; ask the LORD for His mercy and grace.  Oh, that they would turn and worship the Lord!

In Psalm 107 is the exhortation: O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good: and His mercy endureth forever.

Verse 29: He makes the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

To this is repeated the ringing words: Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men.

Palm 135: He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightnings for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries.

Psalm 147: Who covers the heaven with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow upon the mountains. He sends out His word, and melts them: He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.

Monk, what say thou of this impending storm?

The voice of the Lord, our God is upon the whole world and all the things therein: for He created it by the Word of His mouth.

The voice of the Lord brings the clouds together  and drops the rain.

The voice of the LORD is upon the great storm that rages and batters and floods and destroys.

His mighty power is seen in the perfect storm in the powerful wind, the downpour of the rain, the thunder, and the lightning.

It is He who brings it about; He who controls it, and He who settles it.

O, that we mere mortals should cry out to Him, to get down on our hands and knees and humbly fear Him.  Cry out into the storm and seek Him.

It is Your world, O LORD, You sustain it, You control it and all things.  Yours is nature, Yours is the weather, and yours is the earth.

Jesus Christ, Son of God the Holy Father; Messiah, our Lord and Savior, forgive us our ignorance and unbelief.  Grant us Thy tender mercies and grace as we live through this mighty storm.  Protect us. In a glimpse of Your mighty power over the earth and in the earth, the world, help us to call out to You.  Help our faith.  Help our belief. Help us to hear Your voice that calls at the door of our hearts.  Help us, dear God, in the coming storm.  In the name of Jusus we pray, 

Amen.