An Act of God – Part 1

AN ACT OF GOD? (Part 1)
(The Convergence: Where Law meets Truth)

In the legal profession, “an act of God” also called “Force Majeure”, is a term used to refer to events beyond the control of human beings.

It has been defined as “an event that directly and exclusively results from the occurrence of natural causes that could not have been prevented by the exercise of foresight or caution; an inevitable accident.” Various events such as tornadoes, earthquakes, death, volcanoes, flood, and other natural disasters have been recognized by courts as an Act of God.

In law, an act of God can suffice as an excuse for delay or failure to perform a contract; exempts a party from negligence; and even insurance contracts usually exclude damages caused by “acts of God” in their insurance policy. In criminal litigation, madness has also been regarded as a “visitation of God”.

But, is God really the cause of these numerous natural disasters that have plagued our world today? Does he love visiting people with “madness”? Or could it be that people have just used the term to explain things they do not understand, make excuses for their actions and inactions, or perhaps, simply referring to it as an “act of God” makes it easier to accept and deal with?

An attempt to answer these questions would have us come down to the nature of God. When we have an understanding of who God is, we would be able to judge him faithful, regardless of whatever we see around us. God is good. That is not a cliché. He is. To know how good God is, we do not have to look far; we only have to look at Jesus. This is because Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God (Col 1:15)

When God created the heavens and the earth, he looked at everything and he saw that it was good (Gen 1:31, Nahum 1:7, Psalm 86:5). The seas, the plants, the animal, the world he made was good. God set up boundaries for the waves and the sea. He determined how far they could go (Job 38:8-11). It was never God’s intention that we would have these disasters that plague our world. Jesus even rebuked a storm that was threatening to capsize the boat He and his disciples were in (Matt 8:23-27, Lk 8:22-25). This is a pointer to the fact that these acts are not God’s acts.

The bible summarized Jesus’s actions in the following scripture:

“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

Can you see that? He went about doing good. I am sure that you would agree with me that these so called natural disasters and illnesses are not ‘good’ and could never have been from him.

God is not punishing the world with these disasters neither is he the one inflicting people with diseases. God desires to heal and restore. Jesus went about healing those who were sick and oppressed by the devil. He wasn’t visiting people with madness. Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17)

So, if these are not “acts of God”, whose acts are they?

To be continued