Throughout Scripture God is seen as sovereign and providentially involved in all aspects of life.  When there were natural disasters in Israel, the prophets called the people to respond to the God who created everything.  When war or famine hit, they interpreted it in light of the covenant they were under, but also always recognizing and promoting the reality of a God who is present and immanent and involved.

Today we see two concerning alternatives:

Alternative A – God is Absent. In this view of things we preach about a God who was involved in history, and a God who will intervene again in the future, but a God who is essentially silent today.  The greatest intersection of earth and heaven today is essentially my preaching, and yours.  In many churches Christians live as if God is only slightly more engaged than the God of the Deists . . . that is, He was engaged for longer in the past, and He will be again in the future.  This is a problematic position.

Alternative B – God is Speaking and I Can Give Specific Interpretation. This is the hotline to heaven approach where certain preachers have sufficient anointing to be able to speak with an authority that is theirs, rather than an authority resting in Scripture.  It is the kind of authority that says “I know exactly why this disaster has occurred, and the reason is XYZ” (typically the cause would be their own pet peeeve issue).  This sensational approach to preaching undermines the credibility of all legitimate biblical preachers.

We need to stand in between these two.  We can’t give exact revelation on specifics in a sensational way, neither should we relegate God to history.  Let us instead live out a biblical worldview in which God is providentially shaking the world in order to get our attention.  Volcanic ash clouds, oil disasters, wars, economic crises, the price of fuel . . . let’s be, and let’s preach, a responsive Christianity that has the worldview presented throughout Scripture.  God matters, today.  It is our privilege to respond to Him.  Then what?  Then we go to His Word, where we can hear His heart clearly.