Yesterday I saw got online and saw the tragedy that is happening in Japan. I could not imagine an 8.9 earthquake happening in my lifetime and the damage is heartbreaking. I have been asked a lot about why God would allow such a disaster to happen to His children and I am with every other believer out there who does not know Gods true intentions; we can only pray and hope for guidance is the terrible tragedy. This morning I got up for my quiet time and simply opened my bible to wherever the Lord led me and it led me to one of my favorite books in the Bible, Romans.
In Romans 9:15-17, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion. So then it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth."
I love this verse because it shows an aspect of God that we don't focus on, His power. The verse in context directly relates to Israelites; the adopted, the law given, and countrymen of Paul (from verse 3) denying who Christ was (That he is the savior). But we can directly apply it to our daily lives. Many Christians who focus more on the end instead of the current, see what's going on in the world today and think immediately of Mark 13:8 "For nation will rise against nation, and a kingdom and kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows." As the world grows in unrest and earthquakes are raging across the world (I was in India in 2005 when the tsunami hit) its easy to think that this might be the end, but I think we're missing out on a few things.
1.
a. Scripture says to watch dilligently and live as if the Lord was coming today.
Matthew 24:36-39, "Bot of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also wil the coming of the Son of Man be." vs. 42 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour you Lord is coming."
b. We are supposed to live with the knowledge that we sin and that we have an advocate
1 John 2:1-3, My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation (necessary sacrifice) for you sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. "
We are supposed to live and love and be happy and free because of the Advocate that we have. This also means to not focus on death and the end but on the present in our relationship with the Lord.
2.
We need to understand God as Father and Protector of this world.
This is the hardest concept for Christians to accept: God does punish but God also takes care of us. Let me clarify on the punishment aspect. I do not believe that God brought the earthquake to Japan as punishment for their sins. I'm no scientist but the way I understand our world is we are on tectonic plates that are constantly shifting and it they happened to shift on each other, that's what caused the earthquake. The tsunami was displaced water from the shift and it happens to move swiftly and caused sever damage to Japan and many other places. When I say that God is Father and Protector of our world I say it as this, God allows natural and sad things to happen for a few reasons: so we retain our free will to live and choose him in our hearts; and to show his incredible power in the recovery. I remember hearing so many stories of lives saved and gods miraculous touch on many of the people of Chennai when the Tsunami hit. I met a woman who said that her son was miraculously lifted to the top of a palm tree when the water began to take him. You will see miraculous healing's, tales of strangers coming to each others aid, and enemies become allies in fighting against this tragedy.
I do not believe the world will end in 2012, I just know in my heart that will not be the case. More importantly I want us to understand that God sometimes allows the bad things to happen in our lives to show His magnificent power. He is such an amazing God that He does not want to force our will to come to Him or to make a certain decision. But He does understand that we as ignorant humans need to be reminded of things greater than ourselves. If these bad things never happened we would continue to indulge in our selfish desires and completely ignore God in our lives. He is exceptionally merciful and I promise that we will see his unfailing Grace and Love over the next few weeks. I just want to leave off with this thought: We are greater to him than we can ever imagine: Romans 8:16, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and JOINT heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with HIM, that we may also e glorified together. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us."
God has given us the greatest gift possible, to be heirs to his throne with Christ our savior. This means that he loves you as a Father loves his son, simply more-so than is comprehensible. Our hearts yearn for the Love that can only come from God and it is ours whenever we are ready for it. Just be prepared that it will take you on the greatest love affair the world has ever or will ever know.
~Grace in our Lord
(This is Esther). Well put! I concur... maybe all the forecasting calendars end in 2012 because that is God's way of saying that we cannot know the day nor the hour by reading the stars/planets/eclipses.
ReplyDeleteYou just made me think of something. I doubt there were any earthquakes before the flood. I will have to research further, but it makes logical sense to me that the flood broke the "water canopy" that surrounded the earth (causing a severe lack of oxygen, with us humans only being able to live 12o years instead of 700-900 and not use more than 10% of our brain, and many types of dinosaurs could not survive).
I am actually thinking that maybe these massive and horrible tsunamis that are happening can be seen as "after-affects" from the flood, caused by the fall. God did create a perfect world for us but because our sin became so great, he wiped it clean. My thought is that these probably did not happen before the flood and the earth is still "adjusting"... Maybe these are the earth's "scars" from it's cleansing, popping up as a reminder to God's children not to be content. There is a better place for us.
Okay, not to go on a tangent. I'll have to look this up. :) My prayers are with Japan as well.
I most definitely agree. I think whether this points to end tomes or not the more important question is were are our hearts? Its so easy to say I will tell the one I love how much they mean to me tomorrow. When in reality who knows if any one of us will even be here tomorrow. I think in this idea is the reason that God foretoled that the end will come and gave signs associated to seasons. As why to why God lets things happen to people I will ask him when I meet him :) I do believe he is God and in the end knows what he is doing far more than myself. all I can really say is stay diligent for when he comes it'll glorious!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah and as to the world ending on 2012... if we could only be so lucky! I don't know about u but I can't wait till christ returns!
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