Surviving the Elements: Recognizing Divine Purpose Amid Nature’s Roar

I’m not one who watches a lot of TV. But a new docuseries on NBC piqued my interest. It’s called “Survival Mode”. I think the series started in July and airs one or two new episodes each week. I’ve watched four of them so far. One about the Maui wildfires, one about Hurricane Ian, one about the derailment of Amtrak 501, and one about the 100+ vehicle pileup on I-35 in Fort Worth. The video footage and interviews of survivors make you wonder how anyone in the world could survive what they did.

It seems we are constantly bombarded with news of catastrophic events across the globe. I don’t remember hearing about so many natural disasters in such a short time span when I was younger. I’m sure a lot of it has to do with the technology we have now to share news around the world at an exponentially higher rate. But after watching a handful of these episodes, I found myself trying to figure out which one would be the worst to endure. And I haven’t reached a conclusion. Instinctively, fire and water probably scare me the most. However, the power of wind in tornadoes and hurricanes and the devastation caused by earthquakes is also dreadful. What about you? Which one of these would make your heart race off the charts and send you into panic mode? Maybe you’ve even been a victim of one of these catastrophes.

Way back around 450 BC, the Greek philosopher, Empedocles, proposed that there were four classical elements of life: fire, earth, air, and water. All living things have both utilized and battled them since Creation. In fact, people have created technical schematics to describe them. And not surprisingly, these elements are a part of tradition, philosophy, and religion across all cultures from ancient history to modern day.

Fire, earth, air and water are wonderful elements – until they are not.

Like in the instance of the fires that claimed 85 lives near Paradise, California in 2018. Or the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that killed over 200,000 people. A crisp, cool breeze is wonderful unless it turns into a deadly EF5 tornado like that in Joplin, Missouri which took the lives of over 150 people in 2011.   And we all know the power of water. Again, it’s beautiful and one of the best resources we have, until it’s not.

These four elements are an incredible picture of the power of the Lord. How He has the power to speak them into existence and to rule over them throughout all time.

Today, I want to share or maybe just remind you how God IS each of these elements. How He uses something we are very familiar with to show His power and His desire to have a relationship with us.

God is fire.

Fire is powerful. It certainly catches our attention and does so quickly. Not only because it is hot and can burn almost anything, but also because it emits so much light. The Lord uses fire to transform us. While Moses was on the backside of the desert in Midian tending sheep, the Lord appeared to him in a burning bush. He wanted Moses to fulfill His calling to deliver the Israelites to the Promised Land. After their exodus from Egypt, He appeared to them as a pillar of fire at night to guide them through the wilderness.

The Lord also uses the heat of the fire to refine us. To remove our impurities and transform us into something for His use just like a metalsmith would do. As a metalsmith sits by the fire, bringing the fire to a temperature to burn away the dross or junk components and leaving behind the pure metal, the Lord also sits with His children as their unrighteousness is exposed and removed by their sufferings.

Malachi 3:2-3

2 But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:

3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

God allows us to go through the fire of trials to purge us of our sin, our lack of faith, our fears. If we trust in Him, we are left with a vessel who is more righteous and faithful.

God is our rock (earth).

Maybe some of you learned a song (along with some hand motions) when you were young that describes how a wise man builds his house upon the rock. It also describes a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. And then when the rain came down and the floods came up, only the house on the rock was left standing. That particular song comes directly from Scripture, told both in the Book of Matthew and the Book of Luke.

Matthew 7:24-27

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

The Psalms are full of praises and pleadings to the Lord for being our rock. David sings praises to the Lord in Psalm 18 when He delivered David from his enemies.

Psalm 18:1-2

1 I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

David refers to God as his rock two more times in that song. Just like David, our strength comes from the Lord. While everything in this life may shift and sway, He will remain solid. Our rock.

God is the breath (air) of life.

We can’t actually see the wind itself. What we see are the effects of the wind. The rustling of the leaves or the gentle brush across our skin and the stirring of our hair. But still, we know it is there. We can hear it, we can feel it. Sometimes it even has a certain smell. That’s the proof.

In Genesis 2:7, the Bible says that God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. The Hebrew word for breath here is “nesama”, from the root word “nasam”, meaning a “puff” or “wind”. From the beginning, the Lord was our air. Our breath of life.

As we move into the New Testament, He is still our air and breath of life, but takes the form of the Spirit who dwells in us who are His children. The Greek word “pneuma” means a current of air, a breath, or a breeze. It might sound familiar to you if the word “pneumonia” comes to mind, which translates to “lung disease” or a shortness of breath. This word “pneuma” is used at least 350 times in the New Testament and describes the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, or the Spirit of God. Romans 8 is a wonderful example of how God is the breath of eternal life. When we are justified by faith in Christ and our sins are forgiven, we are no longer condemned, and no longer live to only satisfy the desires of the flesh, but now follow after the Holy Spirit, or breath, that fills us at that moment.

Romans 8:1

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

From the puff of wind that fills our nostrils to the breath of eternal life, God is all the air we need.

God is our living water.

Following their dealings with John the Baptist, the Pharisees also were displeased with Jesus and the disciples He was making, so Jesus left Judea and traveled to Galilee, stopping in Samaria along the way. He met a Samaritan woman at the well and asked if she would give Him a drink.

John 4:9-15

9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

Here in the desert, where water is a precious commodity, Jesus offers the Samaritan woman an everlasting living water whereby she will never thirst again. Just like the Samaritan woman, we have that same thirst and search for that same eternal spring that is unfailing. The earthly treasures we seek will never satisfy it. We can only quench that thirst with a relationship with Jesus Christ, our living water.

Ponder this.

As I write this, another hurricane (Hurricane Erin) is brewing in the Atlantic Ocean and causing hundreds to evacuate. Natural disasters force people into “survival mode”, just as the docuseries shows. I hope this post opens your mind to a new way of looking at the elements of nature. Many times, we focus on surviving the elements when they rage out of control. Of course, that should be your instinctive response. However, if these elements are not posing a life-threatening situation, reflect on how God utilizes them to shape a relationship with us. The next time you see fire, think of how the Lord guides us and refines us. When you feel the rock of the Earth, think of His strength and steadfast love. As that breeze glides over your face, think of the breath that gave us life and His Spirit that dwells within us. And the next time you sip that cool water, think of the Eternal Spring who forever satisfies our thirst.

What will you do with this day you’ve been given? How will you make it matter for His Kingdom?