Blessed, Nevertheless: Reflections on Hurricane Katrina & Suffering

Photo I took on November 23, 2005 in Biloxi, Mississippi,

almost 3 months after Hurricane Katrina.

Many Americans have learned to speak eloquently about our prosperity and safety. Mothers have said, “You better eat all of your dinner because there’s children in Africa who don’t have anything to eat.” When we see news reports about the poverty or wars in other countries, we’re quick to thank God that we don’t live there. Even when we go through economic struggles like the Great Recession, our politicians and other leaders tell us that we live in the greatest country on Earth, in history. Every complaint, whether it is about unemployment or death or bareness or miscarriages or singleness or some other loss, is always prefaced with the remembrance that our life really isn’t that bad. God has still ‘blessed’ us. Yet this notion of ‘blessing’ resembles what Job’s wife believed. It is shallow and ignores what God has shown us. When tragedy really tests Christian faith, this notion about ‘blessing’ quickly leads to anger and many times to a loss of faith. We must reexamine what we consider a ‘blessing.’

The word ‘blessing’ had loaded meaning on the Mississippi Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. At my family’s church, it was practically an insult to say, “God blessed us.” Many had lost their homes and loved ones, and the implication was that God hadn’t blessed them. It was like saying, “God blessed us so that we didn’t have to be like you.” I look at ‘blessings’ differently now. My family’s home was up on a hill so that we didn’t have any flooding, and I only had to do a little work to repair the wind damage. Instead of repairing this house, I lead a group of college guys to clean neighbors’ homes. If God had blessed me, He blessed me with the opportunity to serve others so that His Kingdom of Heaven could come to Earth.

I’ve noticed that Christians sometimes believe in what could be called “God the Genie.” He’s there to grant our wishes. We want the miracles, but rarely do we want to help His Kingdom come to Earth because that might mean we’d have to sacrifice what we really want. Jesus shows us that following Him sometimes means suffering for Him. Think about it: on one day Jesus said, “Follow me;” the next day He carried His cross to Calvary. Yet many Christians don’t want to hear this message. We just want “God the Genie” to heal us and ask for nothing in return. He has already given us His life. Any other ‘blessing’ is superfluous in comparison. I think this is how the “God the Genie” image really warps with Christians’ worldview: we begin to think that blessings and miracles are for us to keep and not for us to give away. When we use our blessings to bless others, we become part of God’s Kingdom building. Sometimes God doesn’t bring the ‘peace’ or ‘blessing’ we want. Sometimes he brings a sword. He brings peace not for us but through us.

Sometimes life hurts. I want Christians to admit that they hurt instead of brushing it under the rug and pretending that everything is ok while smiling and singing and raising their hands during worship. Sometimes, life is hell, and I do not use that terminology lightly. Yet my greatest heroes in the Bible are not the ones who said everything was honky-dory but said, “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven” while crying tears of blood. Christ knew what was going to happen but still chose to carry His cross and die. He didn’t sing “Oh, what a beautiful morning; Oh, what a beautiful day,” while carrying His cross. He knew that hell was waiting for Him, but He willingly suffered for us. My heroes are the ones who follow Him on this journey so that Heaven may come to Earth. There is no way of being a Christian hero without following Him on this journey. I pray that when we suffer, we will still seek first the Kingdom of Heaven.

As I survey the straight and narrow path that Christ showed us and as I hear Him call us to follow Him down this path, I can see where this path leads through the heart of hell in order to get to the Kingdom of Heaven. Every other path is easier but contributes to the hell on Earth. So many Christians believe that Christ died, descended into hell, and rose again so that we would not have to endure parts of hell. Yet I see where Christ did these things exactly so that we could endure this suffering. If God can strengthen Christ, then He can strengthen us. He can be victorious because he has, is, and will remain victorious. God has blessed us not because he saved us from suffering but because he has used our suffering to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to Earth, to bring glory to His name.

Sometimes I don’t want someone to tell me everything is going to be ok or that I should do something different. I want someone to tell me that a complaint is ok. It’s even healthy because I’m not supposed to pretend we live in a perfect world. There’s plenty of worthy complaints. The world isn’t safe or cozy. It’s broken. We broke it with our sin. Yet God is still sovereign, and his Kingdom will come to Earth. He will fix the world and put everything to rights. He will bring justice and peace. There will be no more suffering. When I’m suffering the most, that’s what I want to hear.

Here’s a video with photos I took on November 23, 2005 in Biloxi and Ocean Springs, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.

Here are the lyrics to the song "Held" by Natalie Grant:

Two months is too little.

They let him go;

They had no sudden healing.

To think that Providence

Would take a child from his mother

While she prays, is appalling.

Who told us we'd be rescued?

What has changed and

Why should we be saved from nightmares?

We're asking why this happens to us

Who have died to live, it's unfair.

This is what it means to be held,

How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life,

And you survive.

This is what it is to be loved and to know

That the promise was that when everything fell

We'd be held.

This hand is bitterness.

We want to taste it and

Let the hatred numb our sorrows.

The wise hand opens slowly

To lilies of the valley and tomorrow.

If hope is born of suffering,

If this is only the beginning,

Can we not wait for one hour

Watching for our Savior?

In the video’s last photo, the homeowners had painted “Habakkuk 3:17-19” on a board next to their flooded house. Here’s what those verses say:

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to go on the heights.