I am from Biloxi, Mississippi. My family members are there now, enduring the brunt of Hurricane Katrina despite pleas to evacuate. As my father puts it, “Only sissies and Yankees evacuate” (I think this is sufficient explanation for why my ancestors lost the war). As I spent most of the night praying and flipping from Fox News to CNN to MSNBC, I am reminded of just how unnatural natural disasters really are.
The Psalmist reminds us that God put all things under the feet of Adam (Ps 8:6). The writer of Hebrews reminds us that we do not yet see all things under the feet of humanity (Heb 2:8), but we do see a crucified and resurrected Jesus (Heb 2:9). The apostle Paul likewise reminds us that the creation itself groans under the reign of sin and death, waiting for its rightful rulers to assume their thrones in the resurrection (Rom 8:20-23). The storms and the waves are one more reminder that the “already” has not yet been replaced by the “not yet.”
Against the backdrop of the hurricane, consider the contrast between the prophet Jonah and the Messiah Jesus. Like Jonah, Jesus is confronted by a seemingly murderous storm, with his fellow travelers convinced they would perish. Whereas Jonah the sinner could only still the storm by throwing himself into its midst, Jesus exercises dominion over the winds and the waves with his voice. Mark reminds us that the boat’s occupants remarked: “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41 ESV).
The CNN meteorologists can explain the hurricane only in terms of barometric pressure and water temperatures. We know, however, that at its root this natural disaster isn’t natural at all. It is a creation crying out, “Adam, where are you?” As we pray for my hometown and all its citizens, let’s remember to groan along with the hurricane itself, “Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.”
