Just imagine

Just Imagine

A typhoon just leveled the Philippines. It is reported to be the worst natural disaster (typhoon) in history.

 In 2005 Katrina pretty much destroyed New Orleans and its surrounding area.  People were evacuated to places of safety because we knew for days the path it would take. Elder people in nursing homes were bussed out to other facilities far, far away; families traveled to their son’s, daughter’s or parent’s homes in other states or just to distant motels. Lives were saved because they heeded the warnings; lives were lost because they refused to believe it could be that bad or perhaps had no place to go. Katrina earned the reputation of being one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the United States history. That means there were four other deadly hurricanes. The recent typhoon in the Philippines supposedly trumped them all.

I just read where the thousand or so residents of Tulang Diyot Island in a Cebu town (never heard of this place before in my life) survived typhoon Yolanda because they vacated their homes which were completely demolished during the typhoon. They did this on the strong orders of Mayor Alfredo Arquillano. Now they are being advised not to return to their island. They will have to relocate where they can still be farmers and fishermen or learn new skills, but hey, they are still alive because they were well informed and reacted.

There have been other stories of hurricanes, tsunamis and floods in recorded history. People were saved because rescuers arrived in boats, and helicopters to search for survivors. People were salvaged from roof tops of buildings several stories high or pulled off of floating debris used as life preservers.

Now let’s go back a few years. No, go back further. You still haven’t gone back far enough. Keep going. Go back before people wrote things down, before there were periodicals, journalists etc. Go back to a simpler time when the population was smaller. There are millions of people on the earth right now, go back to a time when there were fewer societies. Picture it, no inhabitants in Europe, South American, North America, Australia, China, and Russia (or whatever it’s called now.) Keep going. Are you there yet?

Go back to the cradle of life. Yes, there was a cradle, the earth didn’t just populate overnight. Right now every so many years the populace doubles, triples etc. and the inhabitants spread out looking for more room, more personal space but right now we’re going backwards to almost the very beginning.  I think we’re there now; that only corner of the earth where life exists or existed.

 Now that we’re there do you feel rain? The earth is starting to get wet.  The grass is bending. Little rivulets are branching out and forming ponds. The rain, now a downpour, keeps on coming accompanied by thunder and lightning.  Days are blending into weeks. The water is washing down the mountain sides and flowing into primitive homes. There is nowhere to get away from the deluge, no distant relatives to move in with, no tree tall enough or no mountain high enough for protection.  No boats to sail out on, no helicopters to come airlift people from high rises. People are treading water now screaming till their lungs are filled with fluid. Other people are hanging onto drifting wood till they’re too weak to hold on anymore. The monsoon keeps coming. Wait, okay, it’s stopped now. But that doesn’t help anyone, no relief is in sight. There is no place that is dry.  The immense flood just sits on terrain too soaked to absorb any more moisture. No one’s feet can touch the ground. Fish are nibbling on them.  There is no Coast Guard; yet.  Everyone and everything is dying from aspirated water, fatigue and hypothermia.

Everyone perished except a few people on a boat, I’m sorry, Ark.  They had heeded the warning. They survived what was really the worst natural disaster in human history. As the story was later recorded there were no other survivors.

What, you don’t believe there was a flood that covered the earth and killed everyone?  I know the recent floods don’t compare to the Genesis account because people were rescued. But just imagine a land, culture, society that didn’t have the technology we enjoy today.  Parts of the Philippines were pretty much wiped out; visualize how many more lives would have been lost without the rest of the world’s assistance. In Genesis there was no one else to help. No one.  And if massively fatal floods can happen today on our densely populated globe why not thousands of years ago when we were a young race just crawling out of the cradle? Just imagine…..

Now just imagine if the biblical predictions for a future cataclysmic disaster are possible. God promised he wouldn’t use a flood again to destroy mankind but fire is still an option. One person heeded God’s warning in that long ago time and saved his family; will the earth’s present populace pay attention to the warning signs? We are cable of totally annihilating the planet with horrific force. Do you really think thousands of years ago the bible writers could foresee nuclear weapons without divine insight? Or we could meet the end by nature’s use of meteorites or comets, hey, presumably it happened before. But don’t get discouraged I can almost imagine I hear angels’ wings as they hover above ready to airlift us to safety or lower us to…just imagine.

 

Gen. 7: 13-24

Gen 8:8-17

Math 25:31-46

1 Peter 3:10

1 Peter 3:20

 

 

 

Gen. 7: 13-24

1 Peter 3:20

GOD KNOWS

God knows


I was young, nineteen, with two kids going to school full time, me, not them. My only income was from my dad's G.I bill (which allowed him to send two dependents to school, providing me with $211 a month), $100 child support check and whatever schools grant money I had left over after purchasing books and paying tuition.

With $311 monthly I paid rent, utilities included,(don't envision something fancy for $120 monthly, though the roaches I shared the accommodations with  thought they were in roach heaven), bought groceries, with the temporary help of food stamps,(they embarrassed me so I eventually weaned myself from them), gas for my $10 car,(bet you can't find one like that anymore, simply because that one caught on fire on my way to school one day.),nice fairly elaborate Christmas and birthday splashes for my kids, (guilt relief for them having to struggle through school with me), with enough left over for a small savings account. This was in the late '70's. I doubt this could be achieved today. Car insurance was not required back then so that was a tremendous savings. I also had wonderful parents who did free babysitting, picked my food up at the commissary on base for an added savings, and they threw in unsolicited butt kicking whenever I got discouraged and threatened to quit school.

You can see how every cent counted in my household. One afternoon a few days after I received my child support check I puttered out to the bank in my lovely car (sarcasm, did you catch it?), to discover I was check-less. I went back home and turned over ever leaf as I looked for that important piece of bank paper valued at a meager $100.00.

I opened every school book, emptied every dresser drawer, dumped the trash on the floor, (the roaches appreciated that, it was like take-out for them), scrounged through the toy chests, and then stuck my hand in every shirt, skirt and pants pocket that hung in my closet or was stuffed in my hamper. I was devastated. No check. I was on the verge of some heavy crying.

That night I went to bible study and asked for prayers. Suggestions galore rolled off every tongue, (but no love offerings in the way of hard cash). I got free advice and many suggestions on where to continue my search, none of which panned out when I got home. Finally the obvious reaction came from the group. "Don't worry, God knows where it is." Nice sentiment from people who didn't need $100 as badly as I did. God definitely didn't need it, so why wouldn't he share his knowledge with me!!! He owned the cattle on a thousand hills, at least give me something for my money: a brisket, roast, a hundred pounds of hamburger meat.

Weeks went by and I gave up the hunt. The check was hopelessly lost. I would make do, after all God had taught me he would meet my needs even if he did hide my money. I pillaged from my savings and continued living on a shoestring, which is pretty tasty with sufficient Italian sauces and spices. Good for roughage.

One sleepless night after studying for one of my finals I picked up some light reading and fluffed my pillows. I stretched, yawned, leaned back, and opened my book. Something fluttered to the bed covers. Thinking it was just scratch paper I crunched it up and tossed it into the wastebasket across the room....then on after thought I flew after it.  Guess what it was; yep, my check. All wrinkled but still cashable. The light reading? My bible. It had been a light for my path for many years and now it was still shining forth with help and wisdom and releasing its bounty. I'd been reading this book regularly over the past few weeks yet God choose his perfect time for the check to dislodge from whatever pages it was stuck between. I now remembered why I placed it there when I had received it, to keep it secure till I made it to the bank. My prayer group was correct. God did know where the errant check was.  He revealed it to me only after reminding me he was my sufficiency. I informed him I learned my lesson and he didn't need to repeat the question on the final exam.