Such Things Must Happen

“…but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen... Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains… Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Matthew 24:6-8, 42

Yesterday our nation commemorated the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the most significant and deadly terror attack on American soil ever. In the past few weeks there have been headlines capable of shaking the calm of the most committed and believing Christian: credible 9/11 threats by Al Qaeda, tropical storms in the south, a hurricane in the east creating flooding and massive power outages following closely on the heels of a rare 5.8 earthquake, financial woes as unemployment reaching the highest levels in years with zero jobs created in August, wildfires destroying large areas of the southwest in the grips of a terrible drought, frightening volatility in stock markets around the world, and Mt. Etna threatening a major eruption, just to name a few.

The age of innocence is gone. No more playing until after dark without scaring mom, no more parking bicycles on the front porch with no fear of theft, no more leaving front doors unlocked all day. We will never be the same. No more feeling like we live in the most secure country in the world.

I remember 9/11 as clearly as it was yesterday—watching in horror as the second plane hit the Twin Towers on television and then receiving a phone call that my daughter’s school was being evacuated because of its proximity to a Federal facility. I drove in fear to pick her up in a frustrating round-about fashion, being re-routed more than once because of street closings around the Federal building.

          We don’t know what will take place from one day to the next in our world, but as Christians we can be assured all of these things are under the control of our God. Jesus warned of times like these and said not to be alarmed.

          So what strikes fear in your heart? Do you have deep fears about the future?

          If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you can be certain you will be safe in Him—no matter what happens in our world.

Copyright by Norma Gail Thurston Holtman & http://2MefromHim.blogspot.com. All Rights Reserved. Do not use without express written permission of the author.