God,

You are Lord of the earth and the skies. And yet we live in a dangerous, rebellious world that does not submit to your peace, as we do not. These storms in the South are a case in point. Yes, the earth trembles, yes, the skies open up in fury, no, nature is not in peace. Yet we dare not blame you, God. You created our planet, and called it good. Now things have gone amiss. You delegated authority to us, to humans. But when we turn away from your authority, nature in turn turns away from ours. And now storms rage and we are victims instead of stewards.

As Paul the apostle puts it (a paraphrase) in Romans 8, “Creation is in agony, waiting for humans to step up to our responsibility.” Lord, these storms this week ripping through the South are not your doing. But we step up to our mandate and pray, calling on you to help, to heal, to comfort, to fix what you did not cause. Bring calm. Say it again: “Peace, be still!” In Jesus.

Amen