What the Great Flood, the Hurricanes and Tsunamis all have in common?

What amazes me the most whenever I read God's Word is how over and over again God chooses deeply flawed individuals to be His instruments. There are few noble men and women, to be sure, but for the most part one can't help but cringe when reading public accounts of their colossal stupidity on display for all to see. God, on His part, seems to reveal no shame or concern as to the embarrassment that His people are to Him and His reputation. On the contrary! This might be because it becomes quite impossible to confuse Him with His people, and one clearly recognizes that if there is anything good, noble and holy anyone can detect in these shady characters, it must be of God, for in and of themselves, they seem incapable of any true goodness and morality.

For some reason, this gives me great comfort when I feel overwhelmed by the flood of vanity, ignorance, arrogance, insecurity, pettiness and jealousy that threatens to overtake my life. These flawed individuals didn't have it easy either. Just consider, we barely make it to Chapter 4 and there is a homicide in the first family! And by chapter 7 the humanity has gotten so irreparably rotten God decides to unlock all the double-pane windows holding the water above the sky (Genesis 1:7) and flood the earth?!!! Now, how would you feel if you were God and the creation which just a couple of chapters ago you called 'very good' is flushed down the cosmic toilet?!!

I remember several years ago when the levies gave out in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina and the entire city of New Orleans was flooded. I remember the shock, the pain, and grief and weeping over the devastation, the loss of lives - both human and animals - and this was just one city....

I remember the tsunami in Thailand and another which struck Japan not too long ago... Both forever changed not only the landscape of these countries but also the landscape of the people's minds and hearts... The horror-ridden stories of survivors, the recurring nightmares one doesn't wake up from... A face of a woman survivor telling her heart-wrenching story of needing to let go of one of her children in the overpowering waves because she couldn't hold onto both anymore... There is a rock in the pit of my stomach just hearing her account... but that was just one of many and their stories went on, and on, and on...

I remember when we lived through three hurricanes that visited central Florida in a few short weeks... It was a newsworthy story that was transmitted around the world. For a short time our ADHD global village heard about it, but then everyone else moved on with their lives while the rest of us remained stuck in a time warp, dealing with no power, empty grocery stores (never thought I would live to see this day in the United States of America!), the mountains of yard waste framing the streets like snake-infested walls, construction damage repairs, insurance claims, re-roofing,...

As I reflect on this, I feel like with each of these experiences I get a glimpse here and a quick look there what it must have been like for Noah the survivor of the great flood, and his three sons with their families... for they were people just like us - the same weaknesses, the same or similar challenges... And I experience the truth of John Donne's words:

No man is an island,

Entire of itself.

Each is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less

As well as if a promontory were.

As well as if a manor of thine own

Or of thine friend's were.

Each man's death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

True as this may be, this is not how and where the story ends. For, ultimately, the same God of Hope whom Noah trusted with his life, and the life of his family, is the God who gives us

the silver lining behind every cloud,

a rainbow after every storm, and

a promise of resurrection from the dead

at the end of every, even the worst day

nourishing the hope that

that day

the last tear will be wiped away...

and all will be well

For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD

as the waters cover the sea.

Habakkuk 2:14