Disaster
Isaiah 45:7, “I form the light and create darkness, I bring
prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.”
Amos 3:6, “When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the
people tremble? When disaster comes to a
city, has not the LORD caused it?”
These are verses no one likes to talk about. God is love, right? Yes, He is love. But we don’t talk about the fact that He is
also just, and that He brings judgment. We
have seen, heard and read about the trouble that has come on the earth from the
beginning of time. We can read in the
Scriptures about the flood that God brought on the earth. We can read about how God used the Jews to
bring judgment on the Canaanites. We can
read about how He brought judgment on the Jews through the Babylonians. We can see today the atrocities committed in
Syria. We can see the coming war against
Israel. We can see the possibility of a
war with North Korea. We remember 911, Katrina
and now, Harvey.
And if we read prophecy and the Book of Revelation, we can
understand that things are going to get worse.
Matthew 24:6-8, “You. will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see
to it that you are not alarmed. Such
things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom. There will be famines
and earthquakes in various places. All
these are the beginnings of birth pains.”
Revelation 6:8, “I looked, and there before me was a pale
horse! Its rider was named Death, and
Hades was following close behind him.
They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by the sword,
famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
Revelation 8:7b, “A third of the earth was burned up, and all
the green grass was burned up.”
Revelation 8b-9, “A third of the sea turned into blood, a
third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were
destroyed.”
Revelation 8:11b, “A third of the waters turned bitter, and
many people died from the waters that had become bitter.”
Revelation 9:5-6, “They were not given power to kill them,
but only to torture them for five months.
And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion
when it strikes a man. During those days
men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death
will elude them.”
Revelation 9:15, “And the four angels who had been kept
ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a
third of mankind.”
Revelation 9:20-21, “The rest of mankind that were not
killed by plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not
stop worshipping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood— that
cannot see or hear of walk. Nor did they
repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their
thefts.”
Revelation 20:13, “If anyone’s name was not found written in
the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
Why? Why the disasters? God is getting our attention.
Romans 1:18-19, “The wrath of God is being revealed from
heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth
by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them,
because God has made it plain to them.”
What has God made plain to us? He is just, and He hates sin. He warns and brings disaster, and He judges. And He is love.
Following are some suggestions for what we need to do as a
nation, and as individuals. This list is
not exhaustive, but perhaps a place to start.
It will make some angry, but I don’t care.
- Stop abortion. Listen to the cries of millions of babies…and stop.
- Stop pornography in all its forms, that which ruins lives, ruins families and is a stench on our society.
- Undo laws that promote sin.
- As an individual, be reconciled to God. Your sin separates you from your God. If you let it remain that way, Revelation 20:13 will apply to you: “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
How do you become reconciled to God? You can’t do it on your own. Neither you nor I can undo the fact that we
are sinners worthy of judgment. But
Jesus can. Romans 3:21-26, “But now a
righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law
and the Prophets testify. This
righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified (declared righteous)
freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of
atonement, through faith in His blood.
He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He
had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished---He did it to demonstrate
His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies
those who have faith in Jesus.”
Romans 4:23-25, “The words ‘it was credited to him”
(Abraham) were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will
credit righteousness—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from
the dead. He was delivered over to death
for our sins and was raised to life for our justification (that we would be
declared righteous).”
Ask God today to apply to your life what Jesus did for you
at the cross. He payed the penalty for
your sin and took it out of the way and was raised to life so that you could be
reconciled to God and to have God declare you righteous in His sight. God will then do that and give you the free
gift of eternal life with Him.
And if you are a child of God today, and are suffering as
the result of a disaster, remember that God has not appointed you to
wrath. But maybe for such a time as
this. Maybe you will have the
opportunity today and in the days to come to share the Gospel with someone, and
perhaps they will themselves be reconciled to God.
It is good when disasters happen that there are people who will step up and help their fellow man. This is needed. But as we are stepping up and treating the symptoms of a society moving away from God, let us not neglect going after the root cause.
It is good when disasters happen that there are people who will step up and help their fellow man. This is needed. But as we are stepping up and treating the symptoms of a society moving away from God, let us not neglect going after the root cause.
Our prayers are with you.
