A Matter of Time...Earthquake Readiness

This missionary's heart is heavy in the wee hours of this Sunday morning. What a terrible seven days  this past week has been: Three major quakes in Japan; three in Vanuatu; one in Myanmar; one major quake in Afghanistan; another in Nepal; one in Alaska; one in Guatemala...and now, one in our neighboring country to the North: Ecuador...77 dead so far, and the numbers will surely increase. And that is without even mentioning the many quakes in the month of April prior to this past week –the worst of them being the deadly quake in Taiwan.

Scores are dead, missing, injured, trapped, in more than one country. They need our prayers.

And I'm noticing a pattern along the Pacific Ring of Fire (an area of marked seismic activity): the quakes are increasing in both frequency and magnitude, and they are moving our direction ––FAST. The last major quake of many that Peru has had was in 2008 (mag. 8.0), when over 500 died. And I will never forget living through the "Big One" in May of 1970, when over 75,000 people in Peru lost their lives. The stark truth is that we very well may be next...even tonight. We're long overdue, I'm afraid.  (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us20005j32#general)

So tonight, my father and I began going over our quake procedures and making preparations: exit routes for each of us; do we have adequate water/food supplies?; keep clothes handy at night, and make sure there is an unhindered route to the exit door; etc. 

Because it's a matter of time ––not if, but when. It's going to happen.  

I live with the awareness of another time that will happen. It's called the Coming of the Lord. I chafe at how little we've accomplished, and how much there is to be done. This missionary trembles at how little awareness there is of that impending and imminent Day –not just in the world, but in the Church. Every service I lead or preach, I exhort and lead them in prayer, specifically asking our Lord to come. Maranatha... Our Lord Comes. 

How few are willing to pray for it! Why?...Are we so enamored with our present world and age? Can we not see beyond even our own loved ones? The answer to their need is not to pray that He will hold off on His coming; rather, it is to pray that they should be saved ––and now. 

And if God has called you to missions...it's time to do something about it. Because it's only a matter of time.

It's time to make "earthquake" preparations...may that Day not take us unawares.

Readiness makes a difference.