A massive land hurricane known as a “derecho” pounded the Mid-Atlantic region of the East Coast last night with winds of up to 91 mph, downing trees, knocking out power for more than 3.4 millions Americans and killing at least 10 people. Some utility companies are calling the power outages “catastrophic” and say it will take days to bring the power back online. “Last night’s thunderstorms caused the broadest non-hurricane related power outage in Virginia history,” CNN reported Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell saying. “This is not a one-day situation; it is a multi-day challenge,” he said. Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio have declared states of emergency. Especially hard hit will be the poor, the elderly, the infirm and shut-ins as many will have no air conditioning or fans despite record high temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, no refrigeration, no Internet service, lights, and sporadic, spotty mobile phone coverage. We got hit in the Washington, D.C. area around 10:30pm last night and we’re just turning on the Weather Channel to find out what was happening when everything shut down. Please join me in praying for all those who are affected here in the Mid-Atlantic region, as well as for tens of millions of Americans across the country being affected by scorching temperatures (Kansas hit 118F), floods, droughts, and the fires of Colorado. Consider this: more than 20,900 heat records have been set in the U.S. in 2012 thus far.
Is all this judgment from God? No, I don’t believe so. But I do believe God is using natural disasters, financial troubles, and other means to shake us. He is trying to get our attention, to cause us to turn our eyes to Him as the source of all of our power, hope and security. The question is: Are Americans listening, and turning their hearts to Christ? Or are we ignoring Him and shutting our ears to His Word? “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)