During the last 20 years, 600,000 people have perished in natural disasters

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A United Nations report says during the last 20 years, 600,000 people have died from floods, storms, and droughts. These disasters left 4 billion people injured or homeless and caused $2 trillion in economic loss. Bible scholars debate whether such disasters are God’s judgment upon a sinful world. Judgment or not, we know God is still in control of the world. TheBible itself confirms this. Someone counted up deaths in the Bible to be nearly 25 million—3 million deaths when precise numbers are given, and another 22 million estimated deaths when actual numbers are not given. The Bible teaches that God maintains His sovereignty over all the affairs of the world—over individuals, nations, and events. He either causes or permits everything to happen. Jeremiah chapter 46 is just one text that reveals God as sovereign ruler over the world. Our minds are too small to know WHY God permits what he does. Still, the Bible teaches that God controls all events and nations throughout history. For that reason, it is a foolish miscalculation to think God is either unaware or uninterested in what happens here on earth today. Rather, we ought to be about listening and obeying Him.