Natural disasters have dominated our lives and the news cycle for the past couple years. The blame game rages on from both sides of the aisle about forest management, water policy, fire department budget cuts and insurance coverage withdrawals, but the common theme is how free Americans come together to help our suffering fellow citizens in their time of need.
First, however, we must acknowledge that God is in control of all natural phenomena. They are not caused or calmed by some globalist liberal climate change political worldview coming out of Davos, Switzerland. God's green earth and all its climatic highs and lows has been subjected to hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, asteroids, eclipses, solar flares and more for millions of years.
These natural disasters are nothing new and hardly man made. Once we see this perennial destruction as events beyond our blame and out of our control, then it becomes our priority on how best to react to them and the damage they cause. This mitigation can happen as a result of public policy and as well as individual charity.
A few days spent in Burnsville, Yancey County, North Carolina with Samaritan's Purse taught me so much about how chainsaws, dump trucks and grateful hearts can cure even the worst of human tragedies and suffering. Those mountain communities were destroyed by the torrential rains and force winds of Hurricane Helene and all structures within 100 feet of any river, stream, creek, rivulet or drainage ditch were either severely damaged or literally washed away. Thousands of uprooted trees collapsed on roads, rooftops and driveways making access impossible. The list is over 1000 homeowners still waiting for trees to be removed and houses to be made habitable.
Yet in spite of this natural calamity and the financial ruin it places on residents there, those people in the flooded restaurant where we ate dinner insisted on paying for OUR meals because of how grateful they were for the aid and comfort pouring into their ravaged community from all over America. It was indeed a heartfelt meal.
Similarly, the California wildfires have brought unforeseen apocalyptic destruction into a quiet, exclusive hillside neighborhood overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Fourth and fifth generation homes were consumed by a towering inferno that wiped out cherished family mementos and left nothing but ashes for the current generation to rebuild on. And with no insurance to cover the losses, even the wealthy Hollywood types in this area are left bankrupt.
Some say these natural disasters are payback for a hedonistic unbiblical culture that has abandoned God and that more fire and brimstone will rain down on a secular society that does not put God first. Visions of Sodom and Gomorrah come to mind.
Nobody can say for sure what the causes of these horrific events are, but we can certainly identify the cure by watching the outpouring of generosity from fellow citizens. Thousands of individual volunteers, churches, fire departments, hospitals, first responders, and go-fund-me sites from all across America have chipped in across party lines to help restore the victims' lives and property. The love thy neighbor response has been overwhelming as private and public resources have been immediately and unselfishly donated to assist our suffering neighbors back on their feet.
This is not a Left or Right issue. This is a common sense love America issue where the American people are unique in human history for practicing the age old saying, "...leave no man behind...". We set aside our petty bickering when our neighbor needs help and we stand in the gap when Mother Nature unleashes her devastating wrath.
Let us resist the temptation in this dark hour to point fingers, but instead, give us wisdom on implementing public policies and personal philanthropy that help reduce and mitigate the life changing destructive outcomes of such cataclysmic natural disasters.