The Lesson From Recent Disasters
The winds began building in the Bay of Bengal on Sunday, April 27th. A tropical storm was in the making. Prevailing winds pushed the growing storm northeast, toward the mouth of the Irrawaddy River, toward Myanmar's capital, Yangon (Rangoon), population, 4 million.
Within 100 miles of the coast, the storm grew in intersity, with winds roaring to a speed of 121 MPH. Dark clouds were surely seen by weather observers, as the storm bore down on Yangon. On Friday, May 2nd, the raging storm hit the southern coast of Myanmar with the strength of a category 3 hurricane!
Cyclone Nargis dumped torrential rains and pushed an enormous storm surge of 9 to 12 feet of water from the Bay of Bengal, up through the Irrawaddy delta and its tributaries, flooding out houses, and drowning thousands of people. As of May 15th, the death toll from this cyclone is at 38,000, with another 22,000 missing.
The reclusive, self-seeking military government did nothing to warn its people of the impending disaster.
Ten days later, 1,072 miles northeast of Yangon, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan Province, China, during the afternoon, when people were in their businesses, and children were in school. Buildings collapsed upon their occupants, killing thousands and trapping thousands more. As of May 15th, the death toll is at 20,000, and an additional 10,000 are missing. Ten million people have been affected by this disaster. It's China's worst earthquake in 30 years.
Earthquakes do not give warnings.
God does, however! God has told us that our physical lives are finite, like a vapor (Jas. 4:14), that we will not live forever here on earth (II Pet. 3:10 - 11), and that we all have an appointment with death (Heb. 9:27). He has told us about a coming moral judment of mankind at the end of time (Mtt. 25). He has told us about eternal life, for those who prepared themselves spiritually, and eternal death for those who didn't (Jn. 4:26-29, Rev. 20:14).
God has told mankind how to prepare, by obeying His plan of salvation for the forgiveness of sins, and by living faithful lives for the wonderful God Who saved them.
God has not shared with us when we will die, nor the date of the end of the world. We are called to always be ready (Mtt. 25:13).
Are you?
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