God bless Pat Robertson. He means well and has accomplished much good for the King and his Kingdom. However, when he makes a statement as inflammatory as he did regarding the disaster in Haiti we must search the Scriptures before reacting. We must respond biblically and not react sentimentally.

It is tempting to think that people are evil anytime bad things happen to them. Karma as a major tenet of eastern religions  seems to be taught even within the Bible. Do a word search on "disaster" on www.blueletterbible.org in the NLT (New Living Translation) and you will read a great many verses where God acknowledges bringing disaster upon the evil. Interestingly, you will find only 2 verses in the New Testament. One is where Jesus warns through Paul about being unprepared for Christ's return: It will be disasterous. The other is a warning to not twist the meaning of Paul's letters. Neither are applicable in this case.

The Old Testament verses seem to center on three issues and are the likely source of Pat Robertson's perspective. The first addresses Israel's disobedience and God's resulting discipline while another is God discipline of other nations for mistreating Israel. Each is consistent with warnings God gave throughout the entire Old Testament beginning in Genesis 12:1 with the Abrahamic Covenant and reached its apogee in Deuteronomy. When an impenitent Israel disobeyed God He warned her and then executed some form of judgment. He also clearly spelled out disaster for other nations' mistreatment of Israel as explained in Jeremiah 2:3.

What about the third issue, then? Gleaning from Proverbs and a few verses within the Prophets it does appear that God visits the evil and wicked with disaster. Once again, most Prophets tend to link disaster with Israel as mentioned above. However, Proverbs clearly identifies wicked living from rightous living and clearly spells out disaster for the wicked. In reacting to Pat's indictment of the Haitians we must guard against a sentimental or emotional reaction. God, in His rightousness and holiness, is just in punishing the wicked and we would not want Him to not punish the wicked. Want the Sadaams, Hitlers, and Bundys punished. It would be morally wrong to dismiss their evil acts and not execute some form of judgement. To not do so violates our sense of justice. And if it is offensive to us imagine what it would be to a holy God. Indeed, we are comforted in the face of evil when God reveals, "vengeance is mine, I will repay". (Romans 12:19). Having said all this I must say that it is possible God is punishing wickedness in Haiti. It certainly is within His right to do so.

That being said, though, I don't want to mispeak for God on this, so let's consider other possibilities. It simply may be that the disaster occured because we live in a fallen and imperfect world which is waiting for the day of redemption. (Romans 8:22). Haiti is on a fault line and the tectonic plates shifted as the earth adjusted itself and disaster struck. Notice, too, that everyone including missionaries and bible-believing churches were affected. It wasn't only those that made an alleged pact with the Devil that have suffered. In this we could say the rain fell on the just and the unjust.

There are other Scriptures which reflect another side of God that could be just as true. These indicate "God is compassionate and merciful" and "not willing that any should perish" (Psalms 145:8; 2 Peter 3:9). The Scriptures indicate that God does inflict sorrows on both the just and the unjust. And, He does so with a wisdom that far exceeds ours. As such, my two bits can reflect only a corner of a facet of truth. We know He causes the rain to fall on both because, as He states, He is "no respector of persons".

Also, we learn from Luke 13 that sin is not always the cause of disaster. Another passage exists to underscore this scriptural fact. In the John 9 narrative we are confronted with the disciples espousing a mindset not too disimilar from Pat Robertson. They asked, "who sinned, this man or his parents, that (this man) should be born blind?" Jesus broke the disciples' traditional eastern way of thinking with his statement, "this happened that the work of God might be displayed in his life". (v. 3)

Reports of God working in and through the disaster in Haiti are streaming forth. Yes, great misery and unimaginable heartache abound, but but such darkness cannot, and is not, obscuring the grace and mercy of God. The responses of the nations is staggering. The mercy of God is seen - even in communist nations responses. It is He who moves on hearts to care enough to give and to go.The generosity of people from around the globe reflects upon "God so loved the world that He gave..." The compassion reflected in a myriad of relief organizations bespeaks of God's compassion.

Indeed, if God were angry enough to visit disaster on the people of Haiti because of an alleged pact with the devil, would he not be duplicitous to then move on the hearts of the saved and unsaved alike to alleviate their misery? It would stand to reason that He would prevent acts of kindness, compassion and love. If I read my Bible correctly, it is precisely those who are under the Devil's sway that He came to save and deliver! I read that Jesus "did not come to condemn but that the world, through Him, might be saved". (John 3:17)

Most likely, all the above reasons for disaster are at play to one degree or another. God may have punished some evil-doers. He may also have used it to bring some of His followers home to heaven or some unbelievers to a crisis of faith. He may have simply let the earth do what the earth does. We know this fact: He moved on the hearts of myriads to express in tangible ways such characteristics as He possesses and that are inherent within those made in His image.

PrayerLink encourages you to care enough to give and go as God enables and demonstrate his character to a devastated nation. That would be an appropriate response we can agree upon.

In my daily devotional I came across something worth quoting. I let Joni Eareckson Tada bring the word of the Lord for this time:

"Presumptuously holding God to His Word is arrogance. Humbly holding God to His Word is meekness. We can confidently expect God to do what He says He will do in Scripture, but our confidence must be tempered with a lowly and humble spirit. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth...blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

In her 1993 devotional book, "Diamonds in the Dust", by Zondervan in Grand Rapids, MI, Joni quotes Charles Spurgeon. While known as the "Prince of Pulpiteers", he could just as easily be nicknamed, "The Prince of Prayers". This quote from Joni's December 6 devotional message gives us a glimpse of what that statement is true; "You and I may take hold at any time upon the justice, and the mercy and the faithfulness...of God, and we shall find every attribute of the Most High to be, as it were, a great battering ram with which we may open the gates of heaven."

If Spurgeon is the Prince of Prayers it might be said of Joni that she is the "Princess of Prayers". Since her 1967 swimming injury which left her a quadraplegic Joni has prayed for and with multitudes beyond count. This devotional book is such a favorite of mine since my multiple injuries have rendered me handicapped - tho not paralized. I draw great encouragement from her oft times hard-hitting thoughts from God's Word. I can say she motivates me to pray as no other author. Perhaps her testimony of God's keeping His promises will motivate you, too.

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."
                                          -    Cicero  - 55 BC

Please learn from the past so as to not repeat it.

"I was in prison and you did visit Me." Spoken by Jesus in Matthew 25:36, we can understand how He values those in prison and something else - An active faith. Christianity is not supposed to be a spectator sport. Nor is it supposed to be biased. Having spent the last 4 days at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility through Kairos Prison Ministry, International, telling prisoners about Jesus, I am jazzed up. As I reflected on that experience God brought to mind a couple of facts about our faith. Please, do not think for a moment that I lift myself up in this. My motive is purely to encourage and instruct regarding our Lord's teachings.

Matthew 25 clearly identifies both of these characteristics the Christian faith. Compassion and action are among the top marks of a true disciple of Christ. In Matthew 9:13 Jesus said, "But go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy not sacrifice.' for I have not come to call the rightous, but sinners." Quoting from Hosea 6:6, Jesus clarifies that it is not wooden religion but soft-hearted relationship, both with Him and others, that He wants for us.

Then, in James 2:26, it is emphasized that our faith without good deeds is not true Christian faith: "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." Once the spirit leaves our bodies at death we are dead indeed. Likewise, if one claims to be a Christian yet has no behavior (i.e., no signs of life) to demonstrate it, that one must not believe they are truly a Chrisitan. It may sound harsh and judgmental to state this, but it really is truth spoken in love. 3 times in chapter 2 James state this. Verse 17 says, "faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead", and then again in verse 20, "do you want evidence that faith without deeds us useless?". I know this sounds close to works for salvation, but that is definitely the wrong way to interpret this. James, and I, clearly agree with the Apostle Paul's teaching that one is saved by grace through faith and... not by works" (Eph. 2:8,9). James is simply clarifying and emphasizing what is a living faith as opposed to a dead agreement with facts. Apparently he knew of some folks that were claiming to be Christians but had no evidence of their faith and he did not want them to be deluded nor delude others.

Couple this with visiting those in prison and you are challenged to live outside the box. Am I saying you aren't a Christian if you don't visit prisoners? Absolutely not! The idea of visiting prisoners illustrates living faith - a faith with works coupled with compassion for those considered the least deserving. Visiting prisoners is but one way to exercise action and compassion. Try it. You may very well like it.

There are times when we find it difficult to give thanks to the Lord. Chronic pain, enduring relational conflicts, loss and privation, all erode our "attitude of gratitude". Our mind and emotions rebell at the idea of being thankful. Our bodies refuse to manufacture joyful songs. It is at these moments, when our will reigns supreme and we utter words of thanksgiving, that we offer to God the "sacrifices of praise" (Hebrews 13:15).

Such praise is not dependent on feelings or circumstances. Most sacrifices come with a cost that many of us are eager to bear. However, when our spirit ascends from the pit we're mired in to the throne room of God and we place on the heavenly altar our simple desire to thank God for who He is, that sacrifice becomes a blessing, not a burden.