Many thoughtful Christians began sending news releases and e-mails claiming that Katrina and Rita were sent by God specifically for the purposes of divine judgment for (fill-sin-in-the-blank).

One claimed Hurricane Katrina was clearly because of abortion clinics. Another claimed it obviously was because of homosexuality and the Southern Decadence festival scheduled in New Orleans. And yet another said anyone could see it was because of all those casinos along the Gulf Coast.

One group quoted Matthew 5:45, that God "sends rain on the just and the unjust" -- apparently not realizing that, in context, Jesus is declaring how God is merciful to the righteous and the unrighteous.

When Rita was making landfall, the next wave of releases rolled in, only this time with a see-we-told-you-so attitude.

Read one: "God has more disaster than our federal government has relief."

Remember when Jonah warned Ninevah before disaster? What would have been truly impressive is if any of these Christians had sent a press release at the end of July saying, "Gulf Coast! Repent! Or you will be flattened by not just one, but two powerful hurricanes."

That would have impressed me a lot.

But after-the-fact prophets are not very impressive.

In his book, "When God Doesn't Make Sense," Dr. James Dobson wrote about the unexpected and inexplicable calamities of life of earth: "I'm reminded of a church in Dallas, Texas, which was destroyed by a tornado some years ago. The twister suddenly dropped from the boiling sky and 'selected' this one structure for demolition. Then it lifted again, damaging almost none of the surrounding territory. How would you interpret this 'act of God' if you were a member of that congregation? Perhaps the Lord was displeased by something going on at the church, but I doubt if this was His was of showing it. If that is how God deals with disobedience, then sooner or later every sanctuary will be in jeopardy. So how do we explain the selective destruction of the twister? I wouldn't try. There are simply times when things go awry for reasons that may never be understood!"

Concerning a sudden, unexplained disaster in New Testament times, Jesus rebuked those who wanted to blame the dead: "Those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them -- do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Luke 13:4-5 calls our attention to a danger greater than any worldly tragedy: Jesus emphatically reminded us that we are all sinners, each as guilty in the eyes of God as any other. Eternal disaster threatens every one on the planet who is not sheltered by grace. And that's a message to be shared every day until volcanoes, earthquakes and hurricanes are no more.
 
Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
 
Thus saith the Lord!
 
This devotional is quoting excerpts from an article in CitizenLink, which is an e-mail service of Focus on the Family. Please send comments or questions in response to this article to wesley@showme.net.