Japan

When I see pictures like this I marvel at our planet.  I am in awe at its beauty.  I see the creation of God before me.  A world that once, for a short time, He was well pleased with.  We happily accept the creation of a loving God because we enjoy it. 

We ski in the mountains He formed, we walk along riverbanks decorated with flowers and blossom trees He renews each year.  We swim in the sea and then run out to play in the sand, taking delight in the fun where two days of His creation merge.  The creation of His world is beyond our comprehension and we happily live in it.

When I see pictures like this I marvel at our planet.  I am in awe at its destruction.  I see the creation of God devastated.  A world that is slowly crumbling away, a world He mourns for.  We cry and feel helpless when we see the creation of God so cruelly destroyed.  Yet, when the planet is beautiful and working the way we want, we are happy to acknowledge His ownership of its beginnings.

However, when destruction occurs, God is the first to be blamed, even by atheists.  Suddenly, His presence becomes more of a reality and a likelihood.  Nature loses its authority. 

We can't call God up on the mobile and invite him for a newsroom interview to question Him.  We can't put Him on trial for allowing nature to do what nature does, when nature does what we don't like.  All we can do is put our trust in Him that He has all this in hand.  We have to trust that there is an answer to the unanswerable and that one day we will understand.  Until that time, I will keep on trusting God that throughout this devastation, His plan is continuing and I hold on to hope of an eternity where Jesus will return to take me to a new place, one more wonderful and beautiful than I can ever begin to imagine.  A world where there will be no more earthquakes, no tsunamis, no war, no famine, no heartbreak and no mourning.

Until that time, while I try to comprehend myself why this has happened and I pray for the people who have lost loved ones, who have lost homes and livelihoods and who now have to face water and food shortages, I will also continue to praise God for his mercy and grace and thank Him that people did survive.  I will praise Him and thank Him that in the midst of all this destruction a lone 60 year old man was found nine miles out to sea floating on his roof, still alive.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (Psalm 46:1-3)