With the horror Japan has been experiencing this week, I have been thinking about all the natural disasters and subsequent destruction and death we've experienced or witnessed over the past several years (earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions). These kinds of events truly break my heart; I'm not even able to watch the actual tsunami/flood footage. Unfortunately, these kinds of events are often twisted by some to mean something they don't necessarily mean. I find this "wrath of God" nonsense to be insensitive and repulsive, when we who call ourselves Christians are supposed to be a light to this dark world.
It is at times like this, more than any other perhaps, that we should be serving and ministering to needs without making claims that could not possibly be substantiated! Maybe we should just stick to trying to imitate Jesus:
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him."
(John 9:1-3)
After saying a few more things, Jesus simply healed the man. Let us focus on meeting the needs; and, maybe, instead of howling fire and brimstone judgment that is not ours to make, we could try to comfort people by sharing with them that all this death and destruction do not exist in heaven!
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