“Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.” – Psalm 89:9 {KJV}
“He has stretched out His hand over the sea; He has shaken the kingdoms;”- Isaiah 23:11 {ESV}
Most of us watched in stunned silence the images of catastrophe in Japan yesterday. It had been nearly seven years since we were visually reminded of man’s powerlessness against the forces of an unyielding wave when the sea has been stirred. As I pondered the events surrounding Japan’s massive earthquake and the resulting tsunami, I was deeply humbled, even to the point of fearfulness. We were reminded yesterday that man is nothing and his power is exposed as ridiculously inept. He beats his chest in pride and then is washed away with all his works by a raging wall of water.
Let me say something that will disturb some of you: God did that.
It is impossible for anyone to assign an explanation as to why God did what He did yesterday but I refuse to give into the fickleness that desires to believe that it all occurred while God was not watching. God shook His earth again and the sea rose up to salute His might. You will not hear me employ terms like judgment or wrath or punishment. My little mind is not fit to fathom the intricacies of why God does what He does. Ultimately we understand that all the works of God are for His own glory but, as it relates to cause and effect, none of us can know why the Creator of the universe ordained a shaking and a tsunami.
Here’s the question I’m wrestling with in cryptic whispers in my mind: what is next and where will it fall and who will be made small through it? No matter where you position yourself when it comes to the biblical teaching of end-times events, we know some clear facts concerning the Second Coming of Jesus Christ:
- Natural disasters will occur with increasing frequency and intensity (Luke 21:11)
- An increase of war and international instability will occur (Matthew 24:7)
- Wide-scale, global persecution of Christians will emerge (Matthew 24:9)
- False prophets & messiahs will arise, wickedness will abound, & the love of the professing church will grow cold (Matthew 24:11-12)
- Strange occurrences in space will be manifest (Mark 13:24-25)
This list could go on and today’s post would denigrate into a novel focus on signs and wonders – this is not my desire at all. What I’m saying is that disasters like we beheld yesterday, and others that are undeniably growing in frequency around us, are biblically ordained to occur with growing frequency and intensity as we move closer toward the coming of Christ. These are not random events and the followers of Christ are not permitted to intellectually reason them away. Balancing this thought, it would be important for me to say that neither are we permitted to become alarmists and fail to live the lives we’ve been given for the glory of Jesus. Believe me, nobody will be confused when the coming of Christ occurs, so please don’t think I’m suggesting a date or an immediacy of that great event. This thing will not be done in a corner. All I’m seeking to do today is establish that God is sovereign over the glassy sea in Heaven and the raging waves on earth. He is fully able to still the storm but never rob Him of His glory by failing to remember that He also sends the storms. As a follower of Christ I should be deeply impacted by the sights my eyes beheld yesterday. My heart must be moved with compassion at the dire events that befell the Japanese people. Their lives have been hugely impacted with immense affliction. We cannot shrug our shoulders at that. I’ve prayed for our brothers and sisters there who are suffering within the context of having been faithful to their Lord and yet experiencing disaster; they will undoubtedly wrestle with why this calamity has found them. On top of this I am reminded that hundreds, if not thousands of unprepared souls died yesterday to discover that their indifference to the message of Christ has now damned them forever.
I’m unsure what all to think in light of yesterday’s disaster. I do know, however, that I must think upon it. It may be too profound to fully grasp but I’m humbled enough to know that God has spoken through this event. He has reminded me that man is small and frail and limited in power. We are greater than the snail but lesser than the sea. Our plans and proclamations, decrees and desires, conquests and coronations are merely one shaking away from being reduced to dust. I am not sovereign…God is. What has He said to you?