Driving long distances alone has never been my favourite thing to do, but sometimes it has its benefits. I can sit alone with my own thoughts, giving me time to sort out things that have been on my mind. Short stories have been virtually written between here and Calgary. Essays and speeches have been fine-tuned. Sometimes it's nice to just turn the dial on the radio and find something worth listening to. I drove to Calgary early this past Wednesday and decided to see what the airwaves had to offer.
CBC caught my attention. The man being interviewed had a long list of credentials. He was a scientist, a specialist in entomology, climatology and the environment. I was fascinated by what he had to say. It seems he and several of his colleagues have been compiling statistics on the frequency and ferocity of natural disasters over the last two decades, and studied the resulting affects on natural habitats. What they discovered has alarmed them. It seems the weather patterns across the globe are showing signs of being erratic and out of control. The resulting droughts, floods and earthquakes have wrecked havoc, not only in material loss and human death, but in terms of the disruption of the natural patterns of animals and insects. This in turn is beginning to result in significant spread of disease. A virus carried by the large bats of Southeast Asia, for instance, was transferred into pigs and then into humans when the bats were displaced by prolonged drought. Hundreds of pe!
ople died and the world health organization now fears this virus may spread.
As I listened to this man, his voice at times took on a decidedly urgent tone. He's worried. And he's not the only one. We keep hearing rumours of disasters of global proportions. We keep seeing the devastation across the globe from natural disasters and shifting weather patterns. The television reports on wars and famines daily. And we're worried too.
Many Christians point at all of these things and then to their Bibles. There is a great deal of catastrophe prophesied in the scriptures. The Apostle Matthew warned about it when he said .. "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed." (Matthew 24:6) And we might respond, "Easy for you to say!" How do we remain at peace in times such as these?
The answer lies in many other scriptures that talk about God's sovereignty. He is in control. Matthew himself says, "these things must happen." He knows God is unfolding His plan. We can know it too. He will never relinquish his sovereignty over our world. We can say with the writer of the most prophetic book in the Bible, "our Lord God Almighty reigns" (Rev. 19:6b).
That scientist had all the statistics and data at his fingertips. The facts told him to expect trouble. We have the Word of God at our fingertips. It tells us to watch, be vigilant, pray and trust God.
Marcia Laycock is a pastor's wife and freelance writer living in Alberta Canada. Her devotional book, The Spur of the Moment has been endorsed by Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and others. To order, and to view more of Marcia's writing, see her web site - www.vinemarc.com
Copyright Marcia Lee Laycock, 2000, 2001,2002,2003,2004