God Gives Protection Provision and Warning in the Midst of Chennai Floods

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Here is a brief summary of a crisis that began on Dec 1, 2015, but the days leading up to this crisis were also quite eventful. This thing did not just appear out of the blue.

For those unaware, I live in Chennai, India, which recently received a record amount of rainfall, causing the local government to open certain dams that were being subjected to dangerous levels of water pressure. The relentless rainfall, the subsequent release of water from the dams, and the inadequate drainage submerged several parts of the city under several feet of water.

Many settlements along the banks of the rivers meandering through the city were washed away. Roads collapsed. Water overflowed bridges. Local trains were suspended because the tracks were submerged. Transportation was disrupted. Those parts of the city that were not submerged were cut off from the rest of the city like small islands.

There was no running water or electricity in nearly all of the city. Communication towers and networks were nonfunctional. Water entered even well-built homes and planned localities. Many rich were forced to abandon their posh homes and find refuge in 5-star hotels.

People were stranded on rooftops waiting for food packets and water. Several lost all of their possessions, and the rich, be it people or corporations, were not spared. Banks and ATMs were nonfunctional. Groceries were scarce.

I can go on and on, but what effectively happened was this: one of India’s leading cities, a sprawling metropolis, a center of much economic activity, and a capital city was effectively blindsided by a severe and most unexpected crisis and plunged into chaos and destruction on a scale that left the locals wondering how did such an event even possibly come to pass in Chennai, because Chennai was never expected to encounter such a disaster.

Supernatural Protection and Provision:
I had heeded the warnings from the local weather station and stocked up on whatever food and water I could manage. I was hopeful, but not certain, that my provisions would last until the crisis passed. They didn’t last. But, I never lacked food. I did not lack water, either for drinking or for sanitation. Such a crisis should make one wary of falling sick. I didn’t—not even a cold or fever.

I was cut off from the rest of the city, but water did not enter my apartment. I did not have power, but I had light at night, and the weather was cool, eliminating the need for a fan.

The wet weather should have resulted in an outbreak in mold, but apart from a few spots on my clothes and shoes, it didn’t touch my walls or anything else. And all this while I kept hearing stories of people in acute distress, needing rescue by boats and choppers. Some tragically drowned. I survived because my God watched over me and provided everything I needed through my landlord, who is, by the way, a Hindu, and I was reminded of Psalm 91:7.

A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you. (Psalm 91:7)

Prophetic Warning:
Here is the warning I received on Dec 3, 2015, when I was moved to read Micah 1:1-7, during my morning meditation.

1 The word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

2 Hear, O peoples, all of you; listen, O earth and all it contains, and let the Lord God be a witness against you, the Lord from His holy temple.

3 For behold, the Lord is coming forth from His place. He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.

4 The mountains will melt under Him and the valleys will be split, like wax before the fire, like water poured down a steep place.

5 All this is for the rebellion of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the rebellion of Jacob? Is it not Samaria? What is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem?

6 For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country, planting places for a vineyard. I will pour her stones down into the valley and will lay bare her foundations.

7 All of her idols will be smashed, all of her earnings will be burned with fire and all of her images I will make desolate, for she collected them from a harlot’s earnings, and to the earnings of a harlot they will return. (Micah 1:1-7)

I was told that I have seen with my own eyes what a few days of rain have done to a prominent city. I was told that in a similar fashion prominent cities of the world will groan under the stress and pressures of natural disasters and other problems. Chennai is a signpost, I heard, of even greater crises to come upon the major cities of the world.

This is my own understanding: I believe that such calamities will first come upon those nations or places that had a covenant with God and turned away from it. And if this is the scale of judgment on such places, how much worse it will be for those that never had a covenant in the first place.

In closing, all who read, please remember that God’s grace and provision in a crisis should not be interpreted to mean that there are favorites with God. There is no favoritism with God, because He is a fair and just judge, and the same grace and mercy is available to all.

Author: Sujit Thomas

Sujit was working in Chennai in late 2015 when the Lord began to nudge him to draw closer to Him. That was the beginning of a major spiritual transformation in his life, and he has not looked back since. As someone who has experienced God’s undeserving love, grace, and mercy personally, Sujit would like people to know that the Lord has no pleasure in the death of the unrighteous, but would rather see them repent and live.

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