My Thoughts on Japan

My heart is breaking for the people in Japan right now.  I wish I could do more for them than wake up every day with a heavy heart and pray for them.  But I have to remind myself that praying is the most powerful help I can give.

There are a few lessons that I am taking from their crisis.  The first is that this is a powerful reminder that this is not our home.  Our earthly possessions could be gone in an instant.  We don't know.  It's important that our hearts and minds are focused on eternity and that our treasures are there.  How incredibly horrible it must be, to suddenly have everything you own washed away from you, to have life as you know it completely destroyed!  I can't even imagine.  I don't think I would handle it very well, especially with my children to care for! But even so, if that did happen, at least I would know that this is my temporary home anyway, and there is something better waiting for me someday.

I also have been reminded how very much I have to be thankful for.  We may not be able to run the heat much in our house--and I very much wish it was warmer in here!--but we HAVE a house and we are basically warm.  We have plenty to eat and drink and clothes to wear.  We have NOTHING to complain about!

Thirdly, we need to be prudent and be prepared for disasters, both physically and spiritually.  Are you ready to meet Jesus RIGHT NOW?  If a tsunami swept through your town right now and your life was done, could you stand before Jesus unashamed, knowing for certain that you had spent the life that you had going about HIS business and working hard at His calling for you?  Or have you been caught up in the temporal things? 

Hebrews 12:1-2 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God."

Let's fix our eyes on Jesus.  Not on the world, not on the celebrities, the new ipads, the televisions shows, new cars, bigger houses, shopping...etc etc...I'm not saying those things are all bad, but the problem is that we tend to get so caught up in them that life becomes all about those things, and we become fixated on this temporal world.  Jesus and eternity go to the back burner. Let's focus on Jesus!  Let's run the race that He has set before us.

As far as physical preparedness, I'm not sure how much the Japanese people are into preparing for disasters, but I've been pretty shocked that so many don't have food.  I'm sure a lot of those people are the ones whose houses were swept away, so they lost everything, but the ones whose houses are still there....don't they have food stored in their houses?  You'd think in an advanced country like that, they would have disaster preparedness plans.  I don't know.  But I do know that if an earthquake were to hit here, and my house was still standing, I would want it to be full of food!  I wouldn't want to be caught with an empty house, when the stores were empty and the food distribution became severely disrupted.  I believe it's prudent to be sure that you have a well stocked pantry for such times.  There are several verses in Proverbs about this!  I'm not going to take the time to post them all, but look them up! (I can post them later if you really want me to...just ask.)

This world really needs to wake up.  God is trying to get our attention!

"But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God, the eternal King.  When He is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure His wrath." Jeremiah 10:10

Right now while things are a little scary, with the Japan incident and the current radiation scare, some people are sure to wake up and listen.  But my concern is that the tendency is for people to go back to complacency, once things have settled down and the scares are over.  People in America forget, they go back to their lives, and materialistic living.  We all need to wake up and STAY awake!

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken in to. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.  I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time, and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of."  Matthew 24:42-50

Let's keep our eyes on Jesus, and let's pray for Japan, okay?  And let's praise Jesus and sing for joy, for He is Lord and He reigns!

"Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.  Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity."  Psalm 98:7-9