But floods are his favorite!

As the floods ravage the Midwest . . .

"We're just kind of at God's mercy right now, so hopefully people that never prayed before this, it might be a good time to start," Linn County Sheriff Don Zeller said. "We're going to need a lot of prayers and people are going to need a lot of patience and understanding."

I know all about cognitive dissonance and realize that people say this kind of thing all the time; it’s a cliche, verbal diarrhea used in situations out of our control. But, just for fun, let’s break this statement down a bit and realize the implications of what the Sheriff is saying here.

Right off, he’s suggesting that God has the power to stop the flooding. We wouldn’t be “at God’s mercy” if he had no power to stop the problem. So, God can stop the flooding but hasn’t.

"Mercy" also suggests that it would be merciful for God to stop the flooding. Since God has not yet chosen to be merciful, either the Sheriff isn’t using the word “mercy” correctly, or God isn’t automatically merciful, meaning he can be merciless.

The Sheriff then exhorts people to pray. God apparently hasn’t yet been motivated to stop the flooding, so maybe if we all ask/beg him to, he’ll change his mind. What’s more, a single prayer appears to be of no effectiveness as presumably the Sheriff himself has prayed, so “a lot of prayers” are necessary, suggesting that God responds better to groups.

The Sheriff does then make one good point: people are going to need a lot of patience and understanding.

I don’t see how you can get from any of the analysis above and conclude that the Sheriff’s God is benevolent. If I had the power to stop the flooding, I would. (That's a promise in case it comes up some time.) If people knew I had the power and I didn’t use it, they would rightfully be incredibly angry with me. But God gets a free pass here.

Spare me the “God is mysterious” and “You can’t understand the will of God” arguments because they don’t wash. Preventing human suffering is an absolute good. It is a moral thing to do. And if it’s moral under our puny, human standards, then it must also be moral under “superior” God morals. You also can't claim that God doesn't intervene in Earthly affairs unless you're willing to completely eliminate the point of prayer. If God doesn't intervene, of what use is he?

What’s really horrific under all this is the idea that the Sheriff (and the people he’s exhorting to pray) view their God as benevolent and all-loving. He is their salvation and WORTHY of worship. Yet they have to beg him to intervene to prevent misery and death. And most of the time "The answer is no."

What a friend we have in Jesus, indeed.

Seems like an appropriate time for this: