Quite a few people are asking this question in regard to the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Sandy over the past couple of days; why?

I’ve heard people say that God must have a plan in all of this… but what could it be?

Personally, I do not pretend to have any of these answers.  In fact, I’m not even sure they are the right questions… there are lots of things that I neither know nor understand. Having a close family member in harm’s way, I have paid this disaster more attention that I might otherwise have had however, and I have wondered what God’s thinking is about these kinds of things.

Alas! He hasn’t seen fit to share His thinking with me… or has He?

We often like to boldly discuss God’s plans for our lives, but in truth, God’s plans are only made clear in His Word, and there only in a generic sense: His plans for us all. Does He have specific plans for me or you?  Maybe, maybe not.

As far as we can say with absolute surety, God’s plan for us is that we should serve Him by sharing the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ with others.  We also know that we are to serve one another in brotherly love, to give aid and comfort to those in need and to do everything we possibly can to make disciples and build His Kingdom. We also know that we may well suffer from time to time in His service, and that we must serve Him and put the interests of others ahead of ourselves until we are called home, because the servant is not greater than the Master, and this is what the Master has shown us.

I am confident that if our priorities are upon the Plan we know about, and if we actually serve Him, then any particulars that He has planned for us individually will become clear in due course. For now, let us do what we are able to do to relieve suffering and need, and let us be in prayer for those who are hurting that we cannot directly aid.  Let us show the love and mercy of our God in practice, that we may gain a hearing to share our faith.