Far be it from me to know the timing of eschatological matters, or if the next pieces of what I'm going to say will ring true for others at all. The world does seem at times to be falling apart, but some of my following commentary may be viewed as upsetting, although I can promise you the facts presented are from reliable sources. My spin on them, however, may not be as palatable. I seek only to present a hypothesis, which troubles my heart and mind, and makes me want to do something sooner, rather than later.
As I write this, we have a Category 3 hurricane, named Irene, wreaking havoc and causing destruction in the Caribbean. Slated to hit the Atlantic seaboard in a few days, this hurricane has the potential to cause massive devastation in some large U.S. cities. Many of the "natural disasters" in the recent decade have me pondering the hand of God in the selection of these occurrences.
Yes, I went there.
This all began with the earthquake in Japan on March 11 of this year. In the aftermath of Pacific tsunami warnings and the devastation caused by this earthquake that was large enough to affect the earth's rotation, I heard some sobering statistics. Of the 127 million individuals living there, only 2% are Christian. Now, I've heard criticism in the past for concerning myself with the religious leanings of a country instead of the tremendous loss of life, but when your life revolves around Jesus, it's hard to think another way. He said that He came to save the lost...but how many that died as a result of that tragedy are forever lost to His kingdom? I remember in the days following this discovery, the very real desire in me to go to Japan. I've never taken a single missionary trip, but I could see the great potential of introducing survivors to Christ!
We know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, how God poured out His wrath on them for their immorality and sin. What stops the natural conclusion that God can, and will, still act in this manner? We spend a lot of time talking about God's grace, for which I am grateful every day. However, His wrath is still a part of who He is, and the only thing separating Christians from it, is the sacrifice of Jesus on that cross.
We, as a nation, are undeniably an immoral lot. We've strayed away from our Christian roots, and now are a melting pot of cultures and world religious. I am not preaching intolerance, on the contrary, the mission handed to us by Jesus is one of salvation and redemption. But how often do we miss the chance to share the Gospel because someone is different, or we don't want to offend their sense or morals, or because we're too busy practicing tolerance? However, to paraphrase John Adams, you can't rule a country without God and the Bible. We've allowed the government to curtail the expression of God in schools, in the national anthem, at televised events, and in our daily life. Many in this nation are content with a "Sunday religion" that allows them to feel absolved and call themselves a Christian, while living as a non-believer the other 6 days of the week.
Perhaps that's one of the reasons why we have natural disasters after pieces of our country? Is this God's way of telling us to get it together?
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