The recent flash flood in the Texas Hill country where many campers were drowned has affected many of us who know the area well and have enjoyed visiting there. When we lived in San Antonio we enjoyed the Guadalupe River and the countryside around it. We also experienced flooding when torrential rain occurred. Dams have been built to control the water which cannot seep into the caliche soil but unexpectedly rushes down the arroyos. We also lamented the storm that flooded western North Carolina and damaged Asheville and environs in 2024. We knew it well and enjoyed its amenities when we would frequently vacation there.

Sharon Dirckx, has a Ph.D. in brain imaging from the University of Cambridge and is the senior tutor at the Oxford Center for Christian Apologetics. She speaks and writes on issues of Christianity and science. Her latest book is BROKEN PLANET: If there’s a God why are there natural disasters and diseases? She addresses the complaints about a good and loving God who though all-powerful, does not prevent suffering and tragedies.

She recounts stories of tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, drought, locusts, the Covid-19 pandemic and other diseases. She addresses the questions: If God is real, why are there natural disasters? Is this the best of all possible worlds? Why do so many suffer and die in natural disasters? Are natural disasters the judgment of God? Can science answer all our questions? What about insects that devastate? Why would God allow pandemics and plagues? Why doesn’t God just intervene anyway? What should be my response to a natural disaster?

World population growth and the expansion of housing developments mean that many more people are living in dangerous areas. Living in Florida as I do means that we take the risk of being affected by hurricanes. I have lived through many of them. Because of the many advantages of living in Florida people are willing to rebuild and pay higher property insurance. Many beautiful spots are often prone to natural disasters. Congested areas of high population mean that people have nowhere to go and must live in dangerous areas. Over-development, deforestation, environmental devastation, poor land management, rapacious industries, and civil wars increase the peril of living in some areas. Our planet is a living, balanced eco-system that is subject to weather, and tectonic plates that move beyond our control. While climate is always changing there is a symbiotic relationship between human actions and natural reactions. There are always the questions of what control have we over our lives and nature, why we are here at all, whether we are guests on this planet, and why the universe exists? What is life really all about? If my life were to end suddenly, am I at peace with how I’ve lived and with where I’m headed? Is there a way to live free from the fear of ‘What if….? St. Paul wrote:

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Romans 8:22)

The promise of the Gospel is that God is working out his purposes and will one day create a new heaven and a new earth. In the mean time there will be suffering and death. As Jesus demonstrated there will be a resurrection and new life where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:4) We need to comfort one another with these words and support those who suffer loss of loved ones and their livelihood.