God and Tsunami

John Piper has put into good words a biblical answer to the many questions being asked about God's involvement in the tsunami in a recent "Fresh Words" article: Tsunami, Sovereignty, and Mercy. Here is point 2, probably one of the most difficult for many of us to accept:

God claims power over tsunamis in Job 38:8 when he asks Job rhetorically, “Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb . . . and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” Psalm 89:8-9 says, “O Lord . . . you rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.” And Jesus himself has the same control today as he once did over the deadly threats of waves: “He . . . rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm” (Luke 8:24). In other words, even if Satan caused the earthquake, God could have stopped the waves.

It seems to me that if tsunamis are outside of the control of God, we are more hopeless, for then Satan, or even creation itself, is able to act in such an awful way, and God does not care to stop it. To whom will you attribute this disaster, if not to God? Surely no "free will" explanation will do. Satan? Even he must receive permission from God to act. We must be careful not to make definitive statements about things God has not stated clearly. Many ask, "Is this a judgment from God?" I don't know. He hasn't told me or anyone else. It is not beyond the realm of possibility, but I will not presume to speak for God when He has not spoken for Himself. Piper's answer seems to be the best we can come up with for now:

This is true of all calamities. They mingle judgment and mercy. They are both punishment and purification. Suffering, and even death, can be both judgment and mercy at the same time.