Daily Devotional for Saturday November 15, 2003

The fall of nature

(Romans 8:21)

The fall of nature. One of the questions I get very often is why God allows tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning, typhoons, floods, earthquakes, and other acts of nature that destroy billions of dollars of resources each year globally, and take thousands of lives. An understanding of this requires an understanding of the consequences of man's original sin in the Garden of Eden. As I have shared on many occasions, man was created to live and never die. He was placed in a perfect environment, free of germs, disease, and the acts of nature that we have in our world today.

At the time God created this environment we lived in, there were NO tornadoes, hurricanes, lightning, typhoons, floods, earthquakes, or other acts of destruction by nature. These acts of nature are often referred to now as acts of God. That is a very misleading statement. God does allow these acts of nature to occur but these were NOT His intended actions for the environment He created man to live in. A consequence of the fall of man due to sin, was a fall of his environment.

The good news however, is found in Isaiah 35 where it speaks of the restoration of nature to its pristine condition and beauty. Adam and Eve were thrown out of the Garden of Eden and forced to make their way in this now fallen creation. They were created to live in a beautiful and perfect environment. Now they and their ancestors would have to get along in an imperfect and hostile one. However, there will come a day very soon, when Christ shall return, in a twinkling of an eye, and wipe out all sin from this world. Nature will once again be restored to its perfect beauty and free of the destructive acts we face today.

As you know, one of my goals each day is to take our unseen faith, and translate it into the very real world we live in today. I do my best daily to make our faith come alive, real, and practical in the day to day lives we lead. Understanding that nature has fallen just like man, and that due to its fallen state is capable of great destruction, we must use every tool God has given us to protect ourselves. God has given man great wisdom over the years in the ability to predict and follow the patterns of weather that can lead to destruction and loss of life. While we cannot stop these acts of nature, we can be prepared for them.

There is a website operated by several wonderful Christians who God has gifted with the ability to follow weather. One of the creators of this free site is a leading meteorologist in our nation. The website is www.my-cast.com . It basically allows people to set up their own personal weather channel on the web, for free. It's private, and it tailors weather for a person's location, hobbies, sports and schedule. One of the most powerful (and simple) features is the ability to get any and every watch, warning and advisory for a specific county, seconds after it's issued by the National Weather Service. These email alerts are free. Please take advantage of this wonderful free service, especially as we are begin the winter season.

I love you and care about you so much. While we cannot change the fact our environment has been cursed by sin, we can use God-given tools to help us be aware of its potential dangers. I pray today that you will take advantage of this incredible free resource to help you and your family be safe. God has much work for each of us to do in these last days, and helping us be aware of, and not fall into the traps of sin this world is infested with, is part of what He has called me to do. While nature has fallen from its created perfection just as man has, one day both will be restored to its original beauty and glory!

In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ, Bill Keller