Unprecedented Natural Disasters....Are We Living in the Last Days?

When we hear about natural disasters around the world, mostly we feel for the people going through it and some of us may even feel compelled to reach out to the hurting in their time of great need. I am ashamed to say that I have not really done anything substantial in the past as a result of learning about a natural disaster that has happened in another part of the world. In recent memory, from the earthquake and tsunami that hit South East Asia in 2004 to  the earthquakes that devastated Haiti and China to the enormous earthquake and tsunami that just hit Japan ....unprecedented disaster all around the world that is ever increasing at an alarming rate. And yet, those of us who live in the part of the world that is unaffected carry on our every day life with uncanny calmness as if what has happened there won't happen here.

The earthquake and devastating tsunami along with the nuclear crisis in Japan is at the center stage of our global media. I am not a news junky, but lately I have found myself glued to the TV watching CNN and other news channels to stay updated on what's going on across the Pacific. For a brief moment, I thought about what it must have been like for those who went through this heartbreaking natural disaster. I thought about those who did not make it......what it must have been like in their last moments. I can't really say I know what it must have felt like because I have never been through what they went through and are still going through but it causes me to pause my routine day to day existence long enough to think of my fellow humans on the other side of the globe.

We are experiencing natural disasters at an alarming frequency and with much greater intensity. It is happening so fast that if you try to take it all in, it will literally blow your mind.......not in a good way! It's overwhelming to witness what is happening all over the world. The days that we are living in have been foretold in the Judaic Christian Bible. Not just what is happening in the world in terms of unprecedented catastrophes but also our social and cultural environments have also been prophecied thousands of years ago. Last week, I  heard a news anchor reassure his audience that 'IT IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!!' I was amazed by how self assured this man was as he confidently claimed to know that IT IS NOT the end of the world. Well, I beg to differ. I would say we are in the last days of human existence on earth as we know it. The birth pains have began.........it would be wise to at least keep an open mind about it rather than dismissing it without much thought. What if you're wrong and it is truly the end of the world; what then?

Here is what our Lord Jesus said about the last days according to the gospel of Mark: 'When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁸ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.  You must be on your guard. ....Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. ¹³ Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved..... those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.' Mark 13:7-9, 12-13 & 19-20 

Do you think Jesus is talking about what we are facing today? The answer to that in my estimation is a resounding 'YES!!!' What we are witnessing all over the world is 'the beginning of birth pains'! And Jesus cautioned us to 'be on our guard'. So today, that is my message -  These are the beginning of birth pains.  You must be on your guard.