A friend of mine who lives in Delaware told me yesterday that she won’t be going to work because the governor of the state has declared a state of emergency – you can walk on the streets, but you can’t drive! Thirty inches of snow last week and thirty inches of snow this week have rendered road travel impossible! No, it’s not just Washington D.C. that is ravaged with snow – the entire east coast had a downfall that has affected countless numbers of lives. While my friend gets paid whether she is at her job or not, what about those people who don’t? What about those people who are making a daily wage with no benefits? What about the many children whose main meal is eaten at school? It kind of puts things in perspective when you consider that a sudden natural calamity can greatly alter your world!
I was reading Matthew 24 the other day and this is one scripture that used to haunt me. I was converted in the early seventies when the Charismatic movement was in full swing. The preachers I heard spoke of the “Second Coming of Jesus Christ” – declaring that He would come before “this generation passes away” – now as much as I was glad that I was on the road to heaven, I wasn’t exactly sure I was ready to go “any day now!” How I prayed that “my flight would not be in winter” – because it seemed like there were too many winters when I was “with child!”
I’ve learned alot about God since then, my faith has given me to know, that He does prepare us for those things that are going to befall us – if we take heed. I wonder however, if some of the recent cataclysmic events that have taken place aren’t a bit of warning that we need to keep a knapsack by the door!
3 Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?”
4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.
Mt 24: 3-8 INLT)
We saw an earthquake in Haiti, we see unbelievable snow in the United States in non-traditional places, we even had an earthquake in the Chicagoland region on the other day – are you packing yet?
If there is one thing I have learned in the forty years that I have been saved – the only way you can truly prepare for the unexpected is to prepare every day. Not by packing a knapsack (although having supplies in the house and a quick plan to move out is not a bad idea) – but by daily communing with God – in His Word, in prayer, in surrendering each day and offering each day to God. Y2K gave us the blueprint – many were more concerned with how to prepare for the new millennium physically, that when events didn’t occur as they heard from many preachers- they fell away from the faith.
As we keep reading Matt. 24 we see in the next verses, some bad news and some good news:
9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. 10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. 12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.
I’m focusing on the good news, how about you?
God Bless You,
Maria
Maria, it is quire intersting that passage in Matthew. It haunted me as well about praying that your flight be not in winter. AND although I did not feel the earthquake this week, I was up for most of the night, got up at 4 am to adjust the thermostat, and that very scripture came to mind. Sobering thought.
Maria, enjoyed your God inspired words of wisdom.