Last week, I read a prayer by Sean “Sean of the South” Dietrich about Hurricane Helene.
This week he said, “The emails came after I wrote a 500-word prayer for the Hurricane Helene victims.” He offered examples.
“Sean, you’re an IDIOT!” wrote one emailer. “How can you believe that your prayer will help anything? God is a fake!”
“A prayer?” another wrote, “Seriously? Didn’t YOUR sociopathic God send Hurricane Helene? I agree with the previous comment, you’re an idiot.”
We’ve come to a place in our society where “Buddy’s Law” kicks in: “If what you believe confirms what I believe, it’s true; if it doesn’t confirm what I believe, it’s not true.”
And the sequel is, “If you try to prove you’re right, you won’t convince me, you’ll only make me angry.”
“The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.”
— Revelation 16: 10-11
“Sean of the South” answered those emails with the following: “(God) is present in every trauma, even hurricanes. He’s not distant. He doesn’t live in outer space. He’s here. Right now. He’s in the floodwaters and the earthquakes. He’s in the hands of every rescue worker. God is love. This is all I know. This is all I want to know. If I could understand him, He would cease to exist. So, I guess it’s a good thing I’m an idiot.”
“Listen! I am coming like a thief! Happy is he who stays awake and guards his clothes, so that he will not walk around naked and be ashamed in public!' — Revelation 16: 15
In the midst of the worst evil has to offer, Luke tells us Jesus will come for the second time; first, as a baby in a manger to sacrifice his life for our sins and second, as the Lord of lords and King of kings to reap the harvest of his sacrifice.
God sealed his people in the seventh chapter of Revelation, Satan sealed his people in the 14th chapter, and now they line up for the battle of Armageddon. But it’s not much of a battle; the war was won on Calvary’s cross.
Satan lost the war in heaven and was cast out; then he lost the war on earth and the seals, trumpets, freehand sketch, and bowls in Revelation describe Satan’s defeat.
So, I also confess, I too am a proud idiot!
Charles “Buddy” Whatley is a retired United Methodist pastor serving Dawson Street Methodist Church in Thomasville, Ga. With wife, Mary Ella, they are missionaries to the Navajo Reservation.
