Yup, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Call me pessimistic, morbid, negative. But you gotta admit, things are not getting better around here. And there. Basically, everywhere. In all areas of life, in every country and people and society, in every school, workplace and hospital, things are getting messier and confused. Good and bad is mixed up and kids nowadays don't see the difference. Although technology is great, scientists are full of new discoveries and medical research is on a high - people remain ever more ignorant and deaf to the truth of the situation.
Sometimes I feel trapped. This world is not right. Its careening off the edge of the cliff and soon about to plunge into the unknown blackness below. People continue eating and drinking and marrying. Studying and working and making a living. Life goes on - in spite of all the disturbing things we read on the news and even witness in our daily lives.
And remember, we ain't seen nothin' yet!
This is the beginning of the end. Am I talking hogwash to you?
In these times, many people bemoan their 'cruel fate' and suffering in the time of natural disaster or whatever other tragedy, and they even point a finger at God and say, How can a God exist?
But let me pose a different perspective to you. I took a walk in the cool evening today and I pondered many things. I wondered, in the face of such calamity, it is inevitable that people will question God or have all the more reason to say that 'there can't be a God'. So how does that tie in with 'God is merciful'?
Then it came to me once again. God IS merciful. In the face of calamity and tragedy, God IS still merciful. How?
He wants ALL man to be saved, and that none should perish. While people cruise along and get too comfortable and turn a blind eye & deaf ear to God's word and call, here's how God gets our attention. How can the situation turn so desperate that God has to resort to such drastic measures & allow disasters or tragedy to shake us out of our slumber?
Well, I suppose the situation must be very desperate then. We're all sinking deep and we don't know it. When all these things happen that seem not-so-good or a 'cruel fate', try to switch to the perspective that God's calling us to listen. In the eye of the storm, listen. He will help you to soar above it. If only we remain still and listen.
When God allows these seemingly bad things to happen (yes, I AM saying that He is ultimately in control - things had never gotten 'out-of-hand' for God), he is showing mankind 'a severe mercy', as Sheldon Vanauken called it. On the contrary to what most ignorant folks think, God DOES exist, and He IS in control, even in the face of disaster and sadness and death.
But how about the 'innocent' people who get swept along in the disasters? How about the Christians, and the 'good guys' who get killed anyway, even though they had been listening? No one knows the answer. No one knows why some people have less time. A life cut short. Babies unborn. Children born in poverty. No hope, no future.
Is is our call to judge and question God? While we can, because it makes us think and search, it is really not our part to determine. But I know I'm rest assured that each one will stand before God someday. And we're not going to talk for someone else. We're only accountable for ourselves. God sees every opportunity or lack of opportunity appointed to each one. And He will know who is who and who never had a chance to hear the Gospel.
But to get back on topic, because WE are the stubborn and stiff-necked, hard-of-hearing, ignorant, disobedient folks, God is revealing His 'severe mercy' by allowing these 'bad' things to happen. So we wake up - if by God's grace we do! And it is only for those who wake up and turn to God, who will be able see beyond their loss & grieve and realize that through this tragedy, God can still turn the bad things around for the GOOD of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose!
Carpe Diem,
Janielle
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