TSUNAMI
BANGLADESH
KENYA
MALAYSIA
MALDIVES
MYANMAR
SEYCHELLES
SOMALIA
SRI LANKA
SUMATRA
TANZANIA
THAILAND
Lands far away? Lands some have never been to. But for others: these are their homelands, their loved ones, their roots, and their knowing of who they are.
And now something terrible has happened. Not 10 in each missing or dead, not 100, not even 1,000 but some reports say over 10,000 in many of these areas and the number is growing every day. Too many bodies, just lying, and floating, the identification process such an undertaking that it is impossible. Burial must take place soon, and perhaps in mass graves, to keep down illnesses that will follow if the burials are left undone too long.
And besides all the death and distruction, so many people are displaced. What happened to their homes, their lands, their cities, their communities, and their families?
They say it was an earthquake, an enormous one in the ocean. But the result was a tramendous fast moving wall of ocean water that moved across these lands. The smaller islands probably were just wiped like a plate, and the larger ones are in terrible trouble. But there are also huge areas of main-lands damaged. But more than all this, more changes have happened. Some say that where land was only ocean is now. Still others say where there was no land, land has appeared. If this is true we will have to redo the maps.
But another thing happened, the earth was shifted some on it's axis (the imaginary line on which it twirls). And come to find out, there is a lasting result for all of us on this world. It is even possible that our days are now shorter. The length of an earth day can be shortened, they say, by a few mili-seconds by such an earthquake as stong as 9.0 (as this one was) -imagine that?
So, what is all this? What does it mean? How can such a horrible thing happen in the world anywhere in our modern age? How could they not have had more warning to run and hide? But think of it, just were would you run to if the whole place was suddenly being hit with a 20 foot wave of ocean water? Probably there was no where that most could have run to fast enough, and that is the truth.
The Scriptures speak about a time where terrible things on earth will begin to occur, and that because of these things, mens hearts will fear. And that men run to hide, but there will be no place to run to.
That is what I thought when I heard of all this:
"PERHAPS IT IS BEGINING?"
When asked about how the end of the age would happen, Yehsua (His name means "SALVATION") said it would be like the earth was experiencing:
"BRITH PAINS."
I also thought of other changes I can readily see around me. Remember all the hurricanes and their size this last season and how much longer the season lasted than usual? And consider the last two huge tornados that hit Oklahoma City area. Remeber how huge, how much more frequent, and how much more numerous the tornados have become, and the season for them is lasting longer too. I don't think I am forgetful, nor am I magnifying things out of porportion. There seems to be this growing pattern. A steady average of growth in both length and intensity. I have heard that the same is going on with the size and frequency of the earth's quakes, increasing in size, frequency, and length.
With these types of things occurring
THE "BIRTH PAINS" OF THE END OF THE AGE
are something to be considered.
Please don't think I am calloused or hard toward the mass suffering. I know what it is to loose home, belongings, and loved ones: including all 4 grandparents, 3 parents, and my baby, Selah. I have also ministered to others that have lost so much that it was hard to comprehend. I used to work at the Baptist Burn Center. There were those whom I cared for there who lost:
- their homes
- their businesses
- their belongings
- their loved ones
- their health
- they lost their ability to earn a living
- some lost limbs
- their ability to do simple things
- and on top of all this many were horribly disfigured!
What I am trying to say is that you cannot care for those who have experienced such great loss, and not feel compassion for their great loss. I am a person of great compassion for the hurting, and the grief is terrible in this huge devistation and loss--unbearably terrible. And because of this great pain, I just feel like somebody has to make some sense out of it all, beacuse it is:
TOO BIG
JUST TO LEAVE OUT THERE
HURTING!
So, out of compassion for all those who see and experience this and just look at it in shock and don't know what to say, I want to say:
THE SENSE OF IT:
A WARNING SIGN
A BIG ONE!
FROM OUR CREATOR
A WARNING SIGN
A BIG ONE!
FROM OUR CREATOR
It is like the Creator of the world is saying to the world, I am in control, and here is a jolt to let you know; by the way that the end is near, prepare to meet your Creator!
So, what if, by slapping about 10's of thousands of people, the Creator could get the attenition of 100's of millions of people? What if He should chose to scarifice the few, for the many? Would He be justified in doing so?
If you view death as the end, then you problaby think the Creator is cruel in this (if you beleive in Him). But, if this life is NOT the end, then for each of us there is more to be gained (or lost). Then from the view of eternity, if such death and destruction might come out to the eternal good of many many more, then it can be justified.
If we view life in this way, then we can worship with JOB, "The Millionare of Uz," as Dan says about him, "that had it all, lost it; and yet said:
'The LORD giveth
And The LORD taketh away
Blessed be The Name of The LORD!'"
And The LORD taketh away
Blessed be The Name of The LORD!'"
And for those 10's of thousands whose lives just got swallowed up by the ocean, we pray; that they met their Maker ready (or quickly got ready just as it hit them). I beleive, with all my heart, that those who would repent and turn to belief and trust in the Creator, did have time to quickly do so. Our Creator knows who will (and who won't) turn to Him. And more than that, He also knows what it may take to turn some.
Many a War Veteran have said truely:
"There are no atheists in fox holes"
"Fox holes" are holes dug in the ground during fearce war for protection of the individual solider.
So, although so many died in mass, that doesn't mean that just because they had no place to run to, and no time to run that they had no time to pray.
Stop for a moment, and just logically think about it:
ANYONE WHO SAW SUCH A THING
COMING RIGHT AT THEM
OR HEARD THE ROAR OF IT
BELIEVE ME
THEY CALLED OUT!
AND WHO COULD THEY CALL OUT TO
FOR HELP
BUT TO
THE CREATOR OF IT ALL?
COMING RIGHT AT THEM
OR HEARD THE ROAR OF IT
BELIEVE ME
THEY CALLED OUT!
AND WHO COULD THEY CALL OUT TO
FOR HELP
BUT TO
THE CREATOR OF IT ALL?
What then can we say about such things?
It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgement.
ARE YOU READY?
I don't know about you, but
I am NOT Trusting
In anything but
THE CREATOR OF IT ALL!
ARE YOU READY?
I don't know about you, but
I am NOT Trusting
In anything but
AND NOT JUST FOR THIS LIFE
BUT FOR ALL ETERNITY!!!
COPYRIGHT: WWJD MEDIA
AUTHOR: Sandy Lynn Patton
DATE: December 29, 2004/18 TEVET 5765
RIGHTS RESTRICTION: May be reprinted and distributed for non-profit use only with credit given and used as a whole
ALL OTHER RIGHTS RESERVED
RELATED WWW ARTICLES:
http://aa.usno.naby.mil/faq/docs/seasons_orbit.html
http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/intro.html
http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/miscellaneous/relsites.html
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hsrang284698069dec28.0.5718787.story?
posted by W.W.J.D. MOVEMENT | 4:17 PM
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