From My Perspective - - -

Friday, March 11, 2011 – just another day of normal activity in Japan – until the earth started to move strangely beneath one’s feet; walls started to vibrate; buildings began to shake; items on store shelves began to be shaken off their display – and the reality of a 9.0 earthquake started. The earthquake was so powerful that it moved Honshu 2.4 meters (7.9 feet) East and shifted the Earth on its axis by almost 10 cm (3.9 inches). The World Bank, on March 21st, estimated damage between $122 Billion and $235 Billion. Compounding matters even further, the Earthquake was followed by a Tsunami Wave that at points reached a height of 33 feet. What was not shaken apart and destroyed was caught up in the Tsunami and swept away. Close to 18,000 people were unaccounted for and rescue operations seem to leave little hope that survivors will be found. The Tsunami had an additional impact on four Nuclear Power Plants where power needed for cooling is unavailable and radiation leakage has begun. People are urged to relocate between twenty and fifty miles away from the radiation leaks. A normal day became a day of loss, desperation, death, and uncertainty.

It appears that the intensity of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Hurricanes has increased, and Tsunami Waves are becoming more of a reality throughout the world. Some seize the moment to claim it is due to Global Warming, whereas others embrace in their belief system that it is all part of the Doomsday Prophecies articulated in the Holy Scriptures. Many immediately go to the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:6-8, “…you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.All these are but the beginning of the birth pains…” The news about natural disasters - earthquakes and Tsunamis in Japan, and the political events rapidly unfolding in the Middle East and North Africa – cause one to wonder about the bigger picture – the eternal plan of The Almighty God and His reaction and response to man’s disregard of Him and His Creation.

In Amos 3:3-11, The Lord speaks and asks some rhetorical questions – and the prophet records these words: “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet? Does a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Does a young lion cry out from his den, if he has taken nothing? Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when there is no trap for it?...Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it? For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy? Proclaim to the strongholds in Ashdod and to the strongholds in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and see the great tumults within her, and the oppressed in her midst. They do not know how to do right, declares the Lord, those who store up violence and robbery in their strongholds. Therefore thus says the Lord God: An adversary shall surround the land and bring down your defenses from you, and your strongholds shall be plundered." In the midst of this prophecy are these words: “Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?”

Are world events merely a hiccup and/or a shrug? Have we become totally impervious (incapable of being influenced, persuaded, or affected) to the ways and thoughts of God? Are we so foolish to believe that man can function with impunity (exemption from punishment…immunity from detrimental effects) and without consequence for his deeds and actions? What if all these current events are a prelude of II Peter 3:10-12, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!” Should this be viewed as a hiccup and met with a shrug – or – should it be seen as a moment where one can respond to God and flee from the wrath to come? Consider these things with me!