(John MacDuff, "Memories of Patmos")

"In an instant, I, the Lord Almighty, will come
 against them with thunder and earthquake
 and great noise, with whirlwind and storm
 and consuming fire." Isaiah 29:6

Winds, and earthquakes, and tempests are not
the capricious outbreaks of unregulated mechanical
force. The laws of nature are, in the loftiest sense,
the exponents and expressions of God's higher will.

Let us not dethrone and undeify the great Maker
and Sustainer, by substituting for His sovereign rule
what are called the laws of nature.

The world's vast machinery, with all its varied
and intricate movements, is under His supervision
and control.

"He holds the winds in His fists."

"He gathers the waters in the hollow of His hand."

"He makes the clouds His chariot."

"He directs the snow to fall on the earth,
 and tells the rain to pour down."

This offers a lesson of soothing consolation
to many a stricken heart. That lightning which
struck down my child was an arrow out of
the quiver of God!

That wave which swept him from the vessel's
side; or that hurricane which overthrew my
dwelling, and buried loved ones in the ruins,
had their pathway marked out by God!

He brings forth the lightning out of His treasuries!

He gives the sea its decree!

He walks on the wings of the wind!

All things are subservient to the controlling
will and purposes of the Most High God.

"Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
 that both calamities and good things come?"
Lamentations 3:38