April 27th, 2011 started out like a normal, sunny Spring day across the Southeastern United States. However, this was not a normal day. In fact, this day would go down in history for the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded in the US. As far as ten days prior to the storms, meteorologists locally and abroad had been ranting and raving about numbers that were "off the charts" and a potential "powder keg" of a storm system. By the time that the storms cleared it was obvious that their doomsday prophecy was correct. In total, 216 tornadoes touched down across the deep south, killing 348 people and causing billions in damages.
My in-laws lived in the small town of Smithville, Mississippi at the time, just off of highway 25 North. At approximately 4 pm local news sources began warning Smithville residents of a monster tornado that was on the ground and headed straight for the town. My in-laws lived in a single wide trailer, so they made immediate preparations to take shelter next door in the church where my father-in-law (Johnny) is the pastor.
Everyone in the trailer made it into the safety of the church building that was made out of 8-inch concrete block, everyone except for Johnny. He stayed behind for just a few minutes longer in an attempt to grab some of the valuables. All of the sudden he heard a not so distant roar, followed by a loud pop and a loss of power. He hurried out the front door but by the time he reached the porch it was too late. The trailer and the front porch went flying into the air like Autumn leaves on a windy day. He was thrown to the ground next to his Dodge Ram truck. As he lay on the ground doing his best to cover his face, the church was knocked down like a house of cards and his truck was thrown a quarter of a mile away as if was a hot wheels car.
The EF-5 beast roared up highway 25 through Smithville travelling at over 60 mph. When it finally exited the town, pretty much all that was left was the vault at the local bank. My in laws had lost everything but the clothes on their back. The church was obliterated, cars destroyed and the trailer vanished as if it never existed. In fact, the next day someone in Pulaski, Tennessee found some of their wedding pictures and other personal belongings in their yard (Pulaski is over 125 miles away from Smithville). However, they miraculously survived, with the worst injury being a broken leg from the church roof falling on my mother-in-law.
Two things immediately flood my mind when I think about this event in the life of my in-laws. First, I wonder what the survival rate is for someone who gets hit head on by an EF-5 tornado while out in the open like Johnny did. To stress how incredible this is, I need to briefly mention a side story that took place a few days after the tornado. Johnny was standing in a meal line at the salvation army tent that had been set up. As he was standing in line he overheard some volunteers that had come from out of state talking with one of the SA field nurses. They told her that they were from Michigan, not far from the Canadian border and had never seen the destruction that comes with a tornado of this magnitude. They asked the nurse what someone should do if they are caught in the path of an EF-5 tornado and are unable to get underground. In a matter of fact fashion, the nurse replied, "You need to find a sharpie marker and write your name on your chest so that we can identify whatever is left of your body." It goes without saying that Johnny survived impossible odds.
The second thing about this event that blows my mind is when Johnny's outcome is compared with that of his immediate neighbors. Sadly, his neighbors to the immediate South and East were all killed instantly. The amazing thing is that they had done everything right and stilled died. They had taken shelter in a small room in the center of their red brick homes just like the experts recommend.
The only immediate neighbors to survive were just to the north. They were two teenage girls, sisters who were at home alone because their parents were at work. Just like Johnny, they had also made some major mistakes when it comes to tornado survival 101. They had hunkered down in the southwest corner of the house, which is typically the direction that a tornado will come from. The entire house was ripped to the foundation, except for the one small section of corner that they were in. After seeing the destruction for myself, I never would have given anyone in that house a chance of survival. I spoke with their father a couple of days after the storm and he pointed to the small 4x4 section of corner that was left and told me that's where his daughters survived with only a few minor scratches. Had I not heard the story out of his own mouth I would have never believed it.
So what are we to do with this information? Those that did everything right perished, while those that did everything wrong survived without hardly a scratch. Are we to conclude that it was mere chance that Johnny and the girls survived these absolutely impossible odds, because I can assure the reader that the military could have dropped a MOAB on Smithville and not done any more damage than that EF-5 tornado did on that day. Is it safe to assume that Johnny and the girls are just better people and deserved to live more than the neighbors that died? Absolutely not, according to Scripture we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). It's also clear that "there is none righteous, no not one." (Romans 3:10). Our best works are literally a stench in the nostrils of God. The truth is that we all deserve hell and anything north of that is nothing but grace and mercy.
So, if this scenario can't be marked up to chance or merit, then what can we conclude? The answer can be summed up in two words, God's timing. To validate this conclusion we must go to the Scriptures, for we must never measure Scripture by our life experiences, we must measure our experiences by the Scripture. Hebrews 9:27 says, "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment." The key word in this verse is "appointed", as in an appointed time. Someone might say that this appointment applies simply to death in general for every person and not an appointed time, but when we compare Scripture with Scripture we find that this answer doesn't hold up. In reference to man, Job 14:5 says, "Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass." God has determined the number of man's days. He has also appointed bounds that man cannot pass. Even in Job's own life, he was spared because God commanded Satan that he could not take his life. Think about how many times that God spared men and women from deserved death; Adam & Eve, Cain, Lot and his daughters, Balaam on his donkey, the list could go on and on. One also needs to look no further than the Apostle's and their horrible deaths to see that many times God does not spare even His choice servants. Our death is ultimately up to God and His timing.
At first glance, this might seem a little uncomfortable. However, when given some thought it is a source of great comfort. For not only is God in control of the time of our death, He is in control of the means of our death. There is no tragedy that God couldn't stop, nor any evil that He could not prevent. This is not an excuse to be ignorant and tempt God, but it is of immense comfort because it takes all of the pressure off of us. It means that when tragedy strikes our family, no matter what form it may come, that we don't have to beat ourselves up with the "what if's and "if only's". There are health nuts that die young of a heart attack and obese people who live a long life. There are some smokers who never get cancer, and others who've never touched a cigarette who do. There are babies who die in the womb and murderers who die old. There are people who do everything right in a tornado and perish, while others do everything wrong and still live unscathed.
The unanswered question remains, "why"? I would never sit in the place of God and attempt to answer that question. I simply don't know why some die tragically or suffer long while others do not. The comforting thing is that we will not stay in this world one second more, nor leave this world one second sooner than God has planned for us to. Even if we can't see the purpose for tragedy in this life, it will all someone how bring God glory in eternity. We just haven't seen the other side of the curtain yet. In this way there is no such thing as purposeless suffering or meaningless tragedy. God is sovereign and we can trust Him.
The most import thing is that we be ready for death. That can only be possible if you repent and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and trust His finished work on the cross for sin. For the child of God, death is nothing but an escort home. Would you call on Him today? "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13
