Unpredictable weather patterns are nothing new to those who live in the British Isles, but even by our standards, weather related events in the last few years has been extreme! Various weather related records seem to being broken year after year as many parts of the country are being battered by storms. Ironically, Prime Minister David Cameron referred to flooding as ‘Biblical’ when the River Thames burst its banks in Feb 2014. Around this time, we also blogged on the possibility of a link between the storms and God’s judgment on our nation. In the last few days, severe flooding has returned resulting in misery and disruption for many – those affected need our prayers and practical support.
The Bible contains many examples of God using extreme weather to attract the attention of His people. It seems this is one of the most effective ways of causing people in desperation to turn to Him where punishment is threatened for disobedience and blessing for obedience:
And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And then the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you. (Deuteronomy 11:13-17)
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. (James 5:16-20)
As a nation, a serious wake-up call is long overdue as successive governments of the UK have instigated laws that are in direct violation of the eternal precepts of law set by God and this trend shows no sign of slowing down. This document – Britain in Sin – examines 57 pieces of post-war legislation in light of Scriptural standards and reveals an aggressive departure from the morality of the ten commandments.
As a result of this latest bout of storms, the global-warming propaganda machine will go into overdrive. The scientific establishment demands more money, media-exposure and legislation to pursue ‘green’ projects. We are all for ‘green’ projects, but some of the most effective ways of avoiding flooding are by building houses away from flood-plains, looking after our rivers properly and reversing the destruction of upland habitats – these are not vastly expensive and will not involve changing the worldwide climate that we can only make a minimal impact on if any impact at all. Pressure on the government to invest into flood defenses is already increasing as calls to divert foreign aid money are being made. This worries us, as foreign aid is designed to go to those who need it more than us and we believe careful thought needs to be taken if we are to rethink this traditional generosity.
We believe a more ‘spiritual’ approach may prove more successful – how about the nation turns to our Creator God in repentance of the systematic attempt to remove any reference to Him from public lives? How about we seek forgiveness for the dramatic surge in legislation in recent years that have rapidly moved the UK away from Biblical standards of morality? We do not pretend that natural disasters cannot happen to Christian’s – they can and do. However, Scripture makes it absolutely clear that where there is genuine repentance and a sincere searching for God, it is possible that God may spare us from this form of hardship.
We believe the Lord could be desperately trying to get our attention and that this weather may be one of the tools God is using – in any case, it would certainly be unwise to discount this possibility. How bad do things have to get before this nation collectively admits that a broken relationship with God is the REAL problem? Our fear is that we have become so hard-nosed, proud and stubborn that it will only take some kind of major calamity to wake us from our slumber – and even then, we may still wag our fingers in defiance at God. Our nation is living on a financial precipice, the fabric of society is being torn apart by moral relativism/political correctness and our renowned unpredictable weather is fast becoming more unpredictable than ever. What does God have to do to wake this nation up?!
Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth. He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth. After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard. God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength. He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work. Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north. By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened. Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud: And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth. He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy. (Job 37:2-13)
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