The whole house shook! Our attention was jarred! We looked at each other and said, "What was that?" Rick and I cautiously began looking around. We even ventured outside to investigate. Since we had just experienced a 3-day snow and ice event, we thought maybe large pieces of ice had fallen onto the roof from the treetops.
But, instead of ice falling on Valentine's night, 2014, in South Carolina, we experienced an earthquake. Centered in Edgefield, SC, it registered a 4.1 or 4.2 on the Richter Scale. Whew! Thank goodness nothing cracked or crumbled.
Today, most of us just went back to "normal".
Although strong earthquakes are not common around here, I do remember a couple of them growing up. But, what has really amazed me is how the Bible study that I'm leading addressed the brokenness of the earth in last Monday's lesson. God is alive and well, and He's speaking loudly to us, "Pay attention! Stay alert!" He's pleading with us to recognize His power, His greatness, His majesty, and the signs of the times.
Allow me to share a quote Angela Thomas shared in her "Stronger" study. (pg. 69).
"Now yes, yes, creation sometimes screams a confusing message - fear, pain, grief. Fires burn, rivers flood, winds go hurricane, the earth shudders so hard it levels cities. But you must remember- this was not so in Eden. Mankind fell, surrendering this earth to the evil one. St. Paul says that creation groans for the day of its restoration (see Romans 8:18-22), making it clear that everything is not as it was meant to be....The earth is broken. Which only makes the beauty that does flow so generously that much more astounding. And reassuring." - John Eldridge
So, what crossed your mind as you read Eldridge's words? My mind camped out on the cries of the earth, which seem to be happening more frequent, and how the Lord will completely satisfy those cries on that glorious day when heaven AND earth will be made new!
Ever since the day when Adam and Eve chose disobedience rather than obedience, the earth has been groaning. That was the day God began preparing the world for the coming of the Messiah; His redemptive plan to set us free from sin was set into motion. He knew there would be a point in finite time when all would be broken, but He also knew He would not leave us without eternal HOPE-
the hope of being redeemed.
2000 years later, the Messiah came to earth to make us new!
Just this week God has taken me places in His Word I know I've been before, but it's only when our hearts are ready to receive deeper truth that He peels back the layers. God has stopped me in my tracks this week to acknowledge His majesty and glory, and to praise Him for Jesus Christ, our Hope of eternal glory. How has God stopped me in my tracks?
1. This week's snow and ice event. Job 37:6-7
2. The SC, Valentine's Day earthquake. Romans 8:18-22
What a mighty, powerful God we love and serve. Only a God of incredible love provides wake-up calls to alert us that the final portion of His redemptive plan is coming to a grand climax; when those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, will be completely redeemed from this broken world and this corrupt flesh we live in. Yes, we were once dead, but we were made alive through Christ Jesus, our Lord, through His death, burial and resurrection. As His children, our bodies are groaning for redemption too!
When will the next wake-up event take place? I don't know and I don't know how many are left. But I do know that God is preparing us for the grand finale when the trumpets will sound and the dead in Christ will rise first. Jesus is coming again to take His Bride home to live forever where there is a new heaven and a new, restored earth - never again to be broken. HALLELUJAH!
"Listen to this, Job (insert your own name to personalize - "Listen to this, Melanie"); Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God." (Job 37:14 NKJV )
My Pleasure,
Melanie
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