COUNTLESS SOULS CRY OUT TO GOD

The waters that rose up from the deep last week, drowning tens of thousands of people across a wide arc of South and Southeast Asia, were a cataclysm of Biblical proportions. But most of those who survived to weep and mourn—like most of those who died—had never heard of Noah or the Biblical God of Wrath, figures so familiar to Christians and Jews; they were, instead, Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists. Caught up in the disaster, they had no time for religious ceremonies of any kind. In Sri Lanka, as in coastal southern India and along the beaches of Indonesia, there was only time to dig huge holes in the ground and shovel in the dead. "In this kind of tragedy, there is no religion," said Syed Abdullah, a local imam in the ancient south Indian port of Nagapattinam, where Muslims, Hindus and Christians have lived together peacefully for centuries. "Let the dead be buried together. They died together in the sea. Let their souls get peace together."

But no survivor of a disaster of this magnitude can long avoid asking the Job-like questions, "Why us? Why here? Why now?"

HINDUS: Those hardest hit by the tsunami were poor fishing communities whose inhabitants—mostly Hindus—are untutored in refined theological speculation on life and death. For them, all of life is controlled by the play of capricious deities. Yet their religious world views and practices provide a measure of spiritual relief from the toil of their labor. Along the coast of south India, Hindus tend to worship local deities, most of them female and far down the Hindu hierarchy of divinities. The ocean itself is a terrible god who eats people and boats, but also provides fish as food. "Hindus use the deities to think about and explain happenings like the tsunami as destructive acts of god," says Richard Davis, a specialist in South Asian Hinduism at Bard College in New York.

BUDDHISTS: Among coastline Buddhists in Thailand and Sri Lanka, two of the hardest-hit areas, there are many weather gods to both blame and propitiate with assorted prayers and offerings. "But when the time comes to make sense of it all," says Donald Lopez, professor of Buddhist studies at the University of Michigan, "Buddhists will look to the idea of karma and ask what they did, individually and collectively, that a tragedy like this happened." Their main concern will be to generate good merit that can be transferred to the deceased as a positive force in their next lifetime. To this end, families will go to a temple to pray or have a special ceremony performed by a monk acting as an intermediary in the transfer of merit.

MUSLIMS: Like the Bible, the Qur'an recognizes no natural laws independent of God's will. All that happens is Allah's doing, and nature itself—wind, rain, storms—constitutes signs of his mercy and compassion. Even the destructive tsunami, therefore, must have some hidden, positive purpose. "Ninety percent of Muslims will understand a tragedy like this in this way," says Akbar Ahmed, chair of Islamic studies at American University. "On the individual level, they also have this notion that God is testing them by taking away a child or a spouse. Will you lose your faith or will you continue to believe?" This idea of testing and the patience it requires, Ahmed argues, provides "an in-built psychological cushion which allows Muslims to absorb a tragedy of this scale."

TAKE A LOOK

Psalms 130:1 - (NLT)
A song for the ascent to Jerusalem.
1From the depths of despair, O LORD,
I call for your help.

Job 1:20-22 - (NLT)

20Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground before God.
21He said, "I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be stripped of everything when I die. The LORD gave me everything I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!"
22In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job 42:1-6 - (NLT)
Job Responds to the LORD

1Then Job replied to the LORD:
2"I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.
3You ask, `Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?' It is I. And I was talking about things I did not understand, things far too wonderful for me.
4"You said, `Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.'
5"I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.
6I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance."

HOW DO YOU THINK GOD RESPONDS WHEN PEOPLE CRY OUT TO HIM?

Job experienced his own "tsunami". God had allowed Satan to test Job by taking away his family and possessions. But Job recognized God's control over everything that God had given him. Job passed the test by loving God for Who He is and not for what He does for us.
In the last segment of today's scripture, Job is quoting questions that the Lord had asked him earlier. In humility, Job admits that he had been foolish for not trusting God at times.

HOW ABOUT US? DO WE USE WHAT WE CAN'T UNDERSTAND ABOUT LIFE AS AN EXCUSE FOR NOT TRUSTING GOD?

We must be honest with God and admit that we often don't have enough faith to trust Him. This tsunami disaster is an opportunity for people around the world to ask God for the faith that is needed to trust Him. Humility is necessary for true faith.

TALK ABOUT IT
Let's be like Job and confess our lack of faith and trust. Admit to God that you need His Spirit to give you the faith you need to trust Him in everything. Praise Him for His sovereign authority and love. Thank Him for His perfect plan and express your desire to submit to His plan for your life. Finish by asking God's Spirit to use the tsunami disaster to reveal His Truth to the Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims who are crying out.

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