Disasters and More

Does is seem as if the world is experiencing more natural disasters and with more intensity, than ever before?  It certainly does.  If so, what does it mean?

Are we in the “End Times” or not?

My observation is that there seems to be two extreme positions to this question.

On the one side are those who roll their eyes with the “Here we go again” smirk on their face who laugh at all Believers and doomsday predictors.  As the Apostle Peter (2 Peter 3:4) warned us, they say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again?  From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”  In other words, what they’re saying to us is: “You’ve been predicting the return of Jesus for centuries now.  Where is he?  Get over it and get real.  He’s not coming back.  Deal with it.”

On the other extreme side are those who get out their flow charts, point to specific historical dates and timelines, events and characters, and match them up with Biblical prophetical statements and presto, they are able to predict the exact day if not hour as to when to expect Jesus’ arrival and the end of the world as we now know it.

For those of you who don’t believe, I admit.  We believers have sometimes made ourselves look ridiculous.  We have been arrogant in our self-righteousness and we have been foolish in our assertions at times.  So, we have lost credibility with you.  We are no longer taken seriously and so neither is the faith, to which we bear witness, taken seriously.

On the other hand, the non-believing position cannot really claim superiority.  Those who refuse to believe in God have a de facto belief in humanity’s knowledge and understanding as the measure of truth and reality.

Without God in the picture natural disasters and catastrophic events are merely happenstance happenings of nature.  There is no meaning behind the stuff of nature, its actions and reactions and its consequential results.  It just is and it just does.  And though we humans may impose meaning upon it, it virtually means nothing in the end; for, there is no Infinite Powerful Sentient Being undergirding nature with self-conscious intent and purpose.  For humans to impose meaning upon the universe, from our miniscule and finite position in the universe, is to simply kid ourselves about the nature of Reality.  It’s like saying, “Let’s pretend our lives have meaning and purpose,” when in fact we know it doesn’t.  That is to say, “Frankly my dear, Nature (the Universe) doesn’t give a damn!” whether we live or die or whatever.

Within this kind of philosophical world-view of Reality, we must become our own gods.  We pick and choose what we desire and where we will go with Nature, how much and how far we will take ourselves on this Starship we call Planet Earth.  We rule, use, exploit, and abuse her at will.  We’re ever increasing our attempts to master and control Nature, fighting the elements, building and rebuilding.  Having gone to the moon and back, we even hope to conquer Mars someday.

But, bring God into the picture and we are dealing with a totally different kind of Reality.  A Reality with God in the picture has intent.  If someone does something that is offensive to us, the first thing we ask is this: “Why did you do that?”  It is a question of intent or purpose.  It makes a hell of a difference to us, whether an action was accidental, where we attribute no blame and no fault, or intentional, where we attribute responsibility of guilt, blame and fault.  Which is it?

Having said that, consider this quote from the book of Psalms (102:25-28): “Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.  They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment.  You change them like clothing, and they pass away; but you are the same, and your years have no end.  The children of your servants shall live secure; their offspring shall be established in your presence.”

And again the Apostle Peter reminds us (2 Peter 3:10-12): “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.  Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire?”

As for me, I look forward to Jesus’ Second Coming.  I am ready for a New Earth and a New Heavens, where there will be no more tears, no more sorrow, pain and suffering, which is contained in the promise of His Second Coming.  Maranatha!