The Wrath of God....

Let me start off by making it very clear that I, in no way, would ever try and claim that I know what God is trying to do in our world or know His reasoning for allowing things to happen. And while it is very hard for me to really wrap my head around the idea of "the wrath of God" it is impossible for me to ignore the fact that bad things are happening in our world all around us. As you know I am typically a very positive person but this has really been heavy on my heart and I felt convicted to share.

Today in central Texas there are uncontrollable fires taking over neighborhoods and completely destroying homes. We have earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes affecting areas that are rarely, if ever, in danger of this type of catastrophic disaster. Our national economy is seeing more negativity and volatility than it has ever seen. Our lands are being dried up and without rain, killing crops and cattle.

Has it ever crossed your mind that "the wrath of God" could be upon us? Could it be that God is fed up with us as a people and is tired of giving us everything we need and watching us consistently turn from Him. As I see it, we as a people are farther away from God than we have ever been in the history of the world. We are full of selfishness and sexual immorality, our hearts desire for false Gods and material things, we lie, cheat and steal; we do not help our neighbor like we are called. We are so connected via media and the web and that connectedness is polluted with everything but God. We are ungrateful of the beauty God has created in our world and we have no respect for nature. We poison our bodies with bad things because we feel obligated to live however we please.

As these thoughts have heavily weighed on my heart I decided to go back and read the story of Noah's Ark in Genesis, chapters 6-9. I recalled how God became so frustrated and upset with the people of the world and their sinful nature that he flooded the earth for 40 days and 40 nights, killing off everything except that which was inside of the ark built by Noah.

"God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, " I am going to put an end to all the people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth."~Genesis 6:13

We see in Romans chapter 1 that God is angry at sinful people because we have made up lies about God in order to justify our own self centered lifestyles. God makes it clear that we have no excuse because God has made his grace and power blatantly obvious.

"The wrath of God is being revealed from Heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-His eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."~ Romans 1:18-20

Now this idea could be really far off and out there but it could also be very real. Lets just say that God is allowing this to happen in our world (or we created these problems for ourselves through sin) and He is angry. What can we do? How shall we respond?

I believe it is through repentance that we can be saved from this destruction. Through repentance we show our faith to the God above, the Creator. And maybe, just maybe He will spare us a break. I think there are many that could really use it right now; I know I can. I pray that we as a people turn to God in these hard times and get right with Him. I pray that with God's help and grace we as brothers and sister can turn from our wicked ways and began to live more like children of God. I need encouragement from others to help me with my sin, and I could use some leaders by example to show me the way. I pray that through repentance God will lift his finger and restore the world if it is His will. Jesus died for our sin but that does not give us a free pass to live as we please. The great exchange gives us the opportunity to know Him and be saved through repentance and faith.

It would really be a shame if we never accepted the greatest gift ever given!

Blogging from my heart!
-EC