As the rain began to pick up, the Saldviar family made a drastic decision to flee the rising waters around their home. The seven family members quickly piled into the van and took off to find higher ground.
You can almost paint the scene for yourself.
A constant deluge of water pounded the front windshield, even with the wipers on full speed. The sound of water rushed up and over the van every time they hit a flooded patch of road.
That’s when the vehicle hit a swollen bayou. Sammy Saldviar, who was the driver, was able to escape the sinking car and tried to help the others out but couldn’t. The rest of family, from the 84-year-old grandfather to the 6-year-old granddaughter, was trapped.
His brother Ricardo Saldivar later told the media, “He could hear the kids screaming and crying, trying to get out of the van”
Three days later the bodies of those six family members were recovered from that bayou.
So where was God?
Hearing this story many of us got angry. Why does this type of destruction exist? Why do so many good people have their lives destroyed?
The quick answer is because that’s how nature was designed.
Hurricanes were designed with a distinct purpose. The massive storms capture heat around the equator and transfer it northward. Without these cyclones, over time, the equator would become hotter and the poles would cool way down. Some would say it would shift the climate to the point where it would affect how we lived in those areas. These storms can also be a good thing. In some instances the amount of moisture these storms bring inland have broken droughts in the past.
We can’t get angry at the hurricane because it was doing what nature had intended all along.
What we also have to realize is that we can’t get mad at the one who designed these storms either. As a meteorologist, I am a firm believer in science. Nature behaves in the way it has done for millions of years. Weather has always happened and will always happen, whether man is still on this planet or not.
In times of tragedy we plead with God, begging Him for things to go back to the way they were. At last check, the death toll from Harvey was 82 and 68 lost their life from Irma. Millions of people were affected by the storm and those who lost everything.
Not only am I a meteorologist I am also a God-fearing man. I believe that humanity was designed with a purpose too, but as long as we live on this planet with the chaotic nature of weather we will always see destruction and loss of life.
However, it doesn’t mean God left you.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; the best of humanity is always apparent during the worst of times. From the thousands of boaters who preformed water rescues, in Texas, to the millions of dollars donated around the world, people stepped up and took action. They cared for their brothers and sisters in a fashion that showed the true message of the Gospel- love.
If people feel abandoned or alone during a tragedy– look around. God never left you because humanity never left you.
Song breaks out in Harvey shelter for evacuees
Romans 12:5 says, “So we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”
So the question was never “where was God.”
The question has always been “where were you?”
Meteorologist Matt Jones 