Meditation for the week of June 15, 2008
Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Recently we have been subjected to catastrophic storms and floods in our part of the state. Before each storm we have had advisories telling us of the possibility of storms, then watches telling us that the conditions were favorable for storms, and finally warnings telling us that a storm was moving in our direction. On Memorial Day weekend, I came home while the civil defense sirens were blowing. Did I head for cover? No! Instead I asked the neighbor who was outside why the sirens were blowing. My neighbor was watching the sky but didn’t seem to know why the sirens were blowing. We found out later that a tornado had gone through a town near us and at that moment was crossing a road about 10 miles north of us.
During the floods, we have been given constant updates as to river levels and what to do to avoid being hurt in the floods. Fortunately, most people have been preserved but some have stayed in their homes a little too long and have had to be rescued by boats in rising water. During the floods, we were warned one night that another storm was coming with hail and winds in excess of sixty miles an hour. We live in a manufactured home that has no basement and were advised to find a storm shelter, We didn’t because so many cars are parked near the storm shelter when we need to take cover that we usually have to walk to the shelter in the rain. Instead, I pulled the covers over my head and went to sleep. Fortunately, the storm didn’t amount to much by the time it reached our house.
I hear so many storm warnings this time of the year that I don’t really pay attention to them like I should. I consider most of them to be false alarms. I am afraid that many of us treat Biblical warnings the same way. However, Noah was a wise man and even though he was warned about an event that had never happened before, he believed God and built an ark that saved the members of his house as well as preserving life for the planet. Noah had not even seen rain since the earth had been watered by a mist, and yet when God said it was going to rain and that the earth was going to be flooded, Noah began to prepare.
We have been told for years that the Lord is going to come. People have different views of what that means, but I believe that God is going to come to remove believers from this earth before He begins to judge the earth for rejecting Him and His Son. We have been warned over and over that judgment is coming. I believed those warnings, and even though I haven’t been taking cover during the weather service’s storm warnings, I have taken cover from the storm of God’s wrath. There is a day coming when men and women will say to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand (Revelation 6:16-17)?â€
Some people have wondered if the events of the last few weeks in the Midwest indicate that the tribulation has started. Since I am still here and since my Christian friends are still here, I can assure you that the floods and tornadoes of the last few weeks are not part of the time period that the Bible calls The Tribulation. But if these events are are so bad, what must the wars, disease, earthquakes, famines, and hailstones of that period be like?
There is only one shelter from the storm of God’s wrath and that shelter is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. John says in his Gospel, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36).” Today, God is offering salvation by grace through faith in His Son. Now would be a good time to flee to Christ and to flee from the wrath to come (Matthew 3:7).
Now is the time to believe the warnings and to prepare.
Bruce Collins