The Myth of Mother Nature by Arthur Pink The Lord does whatever pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. He sends the snow like white wool. He scatters frost upon the ground like ashes. He hurls the hail like stones. Who can stand against His freezing cold? Then, at His command, it all melts. He sends His winds, and the ice thaws. Fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather obey Him.

I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things.

Who is regulating affairs on this earth today? God or the devil? That God reigns supreme in heaven is generally conceded, but that He reigns supreme over this earth is almost universally denied, if not directly, then indirectly. More and more are men relegating God to the background in their philosophizing and theorizing.

Take the material realm. Not only is it denied that God created everything by personal and direct action, but few believe that He has any immediate concern in regulating the works of His own hands. It is common to hear disasters explained as impersonal forces of nature, or mere outcomes of natural laws, or bad luck. Yet Scripture shatters that notion. War, pestilence, floods, storms, earthquakes, fires, all flow from the eternal decree and providential governance of our Holy God.

When hurricanes lash the coast or fires consume forests, we must not bow the knee to the myth of Mother Nature, but humble ourselves before the One who commands and raises the stormy wind. He displays His power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath His feet. Every blast of wind and crack of thunder fulfill His wise and holy will.

When disaster strikes, our natural impulse is fear and bewilderment. Yet believers are called to recognize God's sovereign hand in every storm and tempest of life. We do not cower at chance events, for there is no chance with Him. We should pray with assurance, knowing that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Earth and air, fire and water, hail and snow, stormy winds and angry seas, all perform His sovereign pleasure. It is God who withholds the rain, and it is God who gives the rain, when He wills, where He wills, as He wills, and on whom He wills.

Either God governs, or He is governed. Either God rules, or He is ruled. Either God has His way, or men have theirs. No revolving world, no shining of star, no storm, no creature moves, no actions of men, no errands of angels, no deeds of devil. Nothing in all the vast universe can come to pass, otherwise than what God has eternally purposed.

Here is an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. It is not blind fate, unbridled evil, man or devil, but the Lord Almighty, who is ruling His world, ruling it according to His own good pleasure and for His own eternal glory.

When times are good, be happy, but when times are bad, consider, God has made the one as well as the other.

Be still and know that I am God.