The Worst is Yet to Come!

What a week it has been! Devastating floods, falling dollar, collapsing stock market, increasing unemployment, pessimistic business outlook, spreading fears of "Foot and Mouth" Disease and disaster in the cricket!

It seems only months ago that everyone was wonderfully optimistic about the future. Now there is gloom everywhere. But what we are experiencing here pales into insignificance alongside the sufferings in Great Britain. After seeing a very disturbing television report on the effects of the "Foot and Mouth" epidemic in Britain we rang our friends, to see how they were faring. They told us that almost every week, for the past 6-7 months, there has been some major disaster in Great Britain.

It would seem that Great Britain is being brought to its knees, but to date there has been no call from the Prime Minister, who is an active Christian, nor from the Archbishop of Canterbury for a National Day of Prayer, such as Churchill called during the dark days of W.W.II. Perhaps the once proud nation has not yet been humbled enough for them to turn back to God.

I do not have any statistics, but it seems to me that our own country is going through a humbling process. So many of the "Natural" disasters that we have experienced over the last 2-3 years have been declared to be the worst in many years. Our dollar has fallen to its lowest value ever, and many other indicators such as drug addiction, levels of crime etc. seem to be at their peak. And there do not seem to be any easy answers in sight.

It seems to me there are three things that God is saying to us in this. On the one hand we are being jolted back to the reality of Jesus’ words that "a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15). When material wealth and possessions are carried away by flood or economic disaster, life still goes on. It is often in such situations that the more important values of love and compassion come to the fore. And we are more likely to give serious thought to the eternal dimensions of our existence.

The second lesson from God is a reminder to build our lives on secure foundations. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus spoke of two different kinds of response to his teaching. Those who receive his word and put it into practice he likened to the wise man who built his house on a firm foundation of rock. Those who do not put his words into practice he likened to the foolish man who built his house on sand. Both houses seemed fine until the storms of adversity struck. The house on the rock stood firm, but the house on the sand fell with a great crash.

The rampant optimism that pervaded most of the latter part of last century; that things would always get better, the economy would always grow; life would always get easier; and science and technology would always come up with answers; is looking rather shaky. Right at the time when some scientists, who declare there is no god, are preparing to clone a human being, society generally is beginning to recognise their desperate need of a "higher power". There was a report on television last week of a group of top business people gathering to listen to a Buddhist monk, because of the failure of current business philosophies.

Now is the time for those who have a personal knowledge of the only true "Higher Power", the Lord Jesus Christ, and who have access into the presence of Father God, to step forward and help. As many are rediscovering their need to pray, very few know how to pray, or even who to pray to. This is what God has been preparing us for.

There is a third lesson in these times that is not likely to be a popular one. It is a warning to prepare for worse times ahead. This is probably the greatest challenge we face today. Most would like to think that the worst is over, that the record floods, record financial slumps, etc., once they are over, will leave us with a period when things will be easier. But, if we take the Bible seriously, we must recognise that there is much worse to come!

The last book of the Bible gives us a picture of events at the end of the age that are more catastrophic than anything we have yet experienced. The eighth chapter of Revelation speaks of "hail and fire mixed with blood" being hurled down upon the earth, and a third of the earth being burned up. Then "something like a huge mountain, all ablaze was thrown into the sea" and a third of the sea creatures died and a third of the ships were destroyed. A further disaster turns a third of the earth’s waters bitter. After that a third of mankind is killed by "plagues of fire, smoke and sulphur".

As terrible as all this is, God is clearly in control at every point. In the end, Satan and his dominion are destroyed and God’s people are brought through into a new life of joy and peace in God’s kingdom.

The difficulties of this present time serve as a reminder to us not to set our hope on "uncertain riches", but on personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. Only that will last for eternity.

John Davies
18 March 2000