Tsunami of life

On January 4th in the morning a 7.2 earthquake hit near the Fiji Islands, it was an offshore quake and was about 227 kilometers SW of Nadi and about 10 kilometers deep.  This in turn caused a tsunami warning for Fiji, a warning that most of us knew nothing about...

On this Wednesday morning I had decided to take some quiet time on the beach.  In addition to my Bible study time each day I want to spend more time withdrawing into "lonely" places to have quiet time with the Lord.  I decided last minute to take my quiet time at Wailoaloa beach.  There were many families on the beach, so I walked down pretty far so that I could hear only the gentle crash of the waves and the sounds of the wind in the palm trees.  I sat down, took my shoes off, closed my eyes and started to pray.  My heart has been unsettled since I returned to Fiji, there is just so much going on and I haven't taken the time I needed to really sit quietly before the Lord, so I was relieved to be there, alone with Him.  He spoke to my heart and I felt the weight lifted of some burdens I had been carrying.  It was a truly good time silent before the Lord.  As my quiet time ended I began getting texts from my family in the US checking to be sure I was OK, asking if I knew there was an earthquake and a tsunami warning.  I was a bit shocked, I had felt nothing but I assumed it was an offshore earthquake and I heard no sirens or any warnings of a tsunami.  There were quite a few people gathered at the beach all none the wiser.  I looked for information and found that most of the alerts for the 11:45 wave were issued no earlier than 11:58 which would have been far to late had a wave arrived.

I returned to my car and went home, honestly thinking very little of it.  But as time pressed on my eyes were opened to what was kept from our shores.  God spoke to my heart about how we don't know what is just beyond our vision, we don't know what is just around the corner, we don't know when our last breath will be.  The picture above is one I took of the calm ocean I sat before as my family text me.  As I look at it, it reminds me that we don't have the big picture, we can't see beyond the horizon, but God can!

My friend Fi told me that God showed her an Angel holding back the wave, that we were protected and spared to awaken us to the moment, so that we would see that the hour is near and just like this wave that we were not expecting, God will bring us home in the blink of an eye.  We cannot be sleeping, we need to be vigilant and ready!  We need to be a strong voice of truth in the dying world.

The more God talks to me about the tsunami the more I see also how much of a provider He is!  How many "tsunamis" does He hold back from us without us ever knowing?  When I'm frustrated because I'm late but just cant seem to get out the door is it possible that He is protecting me from an accident? The unanswered prayer that you desperately desire but seems to be rejected, is it possible He has something better planned for you?  Time and time again as a Christian I am reminded that I truly must be willing to fall into His arms and trust Him, that He knows the wave headed my way and He will bring me through it.  When we get hit with a "tsunami" in life, it may feel like we are being forgotten and forsaken but we can be sure that is not the case.

Deuteronomy 31:6
"Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

Is life always going to be easy, OF COURSE NOT!  Are bad things going to happen, yes, that is part of life.  But we can be sure that God will never leave us through it all.  Everything may not happen for a reason, but nothing happens that God does not know about.  He will provide for you during the struggle if you just trust in Him.  There are so many "tsunamis" in life, they sneak up on us and take us out like a freight train.  They have very little warning and the devastation can seem catastrophic, the death of a loved one, a job loss, an illness.  These things can bring us to our knees, but God is there with us, He truly cares for us and wants to walk with us as we recover.

I saw the best quote yesterday from Toby Mac's Speak Life page;
"So far you've survived 100% of your worst days.  You're doing great."

Thank you God for holding back the tsunami, for protecting our lives here in Fiji, and for opening our eyes to bigger things.  Help us to rise in truth and to remember that we do not know the hour at which you will return.  We must be living every second for You and the purpose You have put on our lives, to reach out to the lost and broken.